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BOOK    422.W4  18    c.  1 

WEEKLEY    #    ROMANCE    OF    WORDS 


3    T153    QOOfiBOST    a 


f3 

5 


THE    ROMANCE   OF    WORDS 


THE  ROMANCE  OF 
WORDS 


BY    ERNEST    WEEKLEY,    M.A 

PKOFESSOR  OF  FRENCH    AND    UEAD    OF    THE    MODSP.N    LANGUAGE 
DEPABTMENT    AT    UNIVERSITY    COLLEGE,    NOTTINGHAM 
SOIIBTIME  SCHOLAR  OF  TRINITY   COLLEGE,   CAMBRIDGE 


:>tH 


/■J 


H !  ^ 


"  Vous  savez  le  latin,  sans  doute  ?  " — 

"Oui,  mais  faites  comne  si  je  ne  le  savais  pas." 

(MOLIERE,  Le  Bourgeois  Gentil/tomme,  ii,  6.) 


..;  ■V)\ni'i^ 


.      NEW  YORK 
E.   P.   BUTTON    AND   COMPANY 
1912 


\9 


PREFACE 


A  LONG  and  somewhat  varied  experience  in  language 

teaching  has  convinced  me  that  there  are  still,  in  spite 

of  the  march  of  science,  many  people  who  are  capable 

p     of  getting    intellectual    pleasure  from  word-history.     I 

\j^     hope  that  to  such  people  this  little  book,  the  amusement 

of  occasional  leisure,  will  not  be  unwelcome.     It  differs, :, 

p"^      I  believe,  from  any  other  popular  book  on  language  in 

that  ut^^eals_essentiaUyi:vv^  and 

\     makes   no   attempt   to   enforce  a  moral.    gMy  aim  has 

$     been  to  select  especially  the  unexpected  ^ety myology, 

i     "  things   not ,  generally.,  known,"  such  as  the  fact   that 

<::^^      fa7nmany  was  an   Indian  chief,  that  assegai  occurs  in 

v^      Chaucer,   that  jilt  is  identical   with  Juliet^  that  brazil 

^      wood  is  not  named  from  Brazil,  that  to  curry  favotir 

^^^<,     means  to  comb  down  a  horse  of  a  particular  colour,  and 

^^^     so  forth.     The  treatment  is  made  as  simple  as  possible, 

a  bowing  acquaintance  with   Latin    and   French  being 

all  that  is   assumed,   though  words  from jrian}^  other 

I    lajiguages_are^ecessanly^|ncluded.     In  the  case  of  each 

"    word  I  have  traced  the  history  just  so  far  back  as  it  is 

tP  likely  to  be  of  interest  to  the  reader  who  is  not  a  philo- 

Y---^  logical  specialist. 

.^-^         I  have  endeavoured  to  state  each  proposition  in  its 
\^    simplest   terms,  without   enumerating  all  the  reserva- 
--^    tions  and  indirect  factors  v/hich  belong  to  the  history 
of  almost  every  word. 

vu 


viii  PREFACE  ' 

The  chapter  headings  only  indicate  in  a  general  way 
the  division  of  the  subject  matter,  the  arrangement  of 
which  has  been  determined  rather  by  the  natural  associa- 
tion which  exists  between  words.  The  quotations  are, 
with  few  exceptions,  drawn  from  my  own  reading.  They 
come  from  very  varied  sources,  but  archaic  words  are 
exemplified,  when  possible,  from  authors  easily  acces- 
sible, generally  Shakespeare  or  Milton,  or,  for  revived 
archaisms,  Scott.  In  illustrating  obsolete  meanings  I 
have  made  much  use  of  the  earliest  dictionaries^ 
available. 

It  seemed  undesirable  to  load  a  small  work  of  this 
kind  with  references.  The  writer  on  word-lore  must  of 
Tiecessity  build  on  what  has  already  been  done,  happy  if 
he  can  add  a  few  bricks  to  the  edifice.  But  philologists 
will  recognise  that  this  book  is  not,  in  the  etymological 
sense,  a  mere  compilation,^  and  that  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  information  it  contains  is  here  printed  for 
the  first  time  in  a  form  accessible  to  the  general  reader.^ 
Chapter  VII.,  on  Semantics,  is,  so  far  as  I  know,  the 
first  attempt  at  a  simple  treatment  of  a  science  which 
is  now  admitted  to  an  equality  with  phonetics,  and 
which  to  most  people  is  much  more  interesting. 

Throughout  I  have  used  the  New  English  Dictionary, 
in  the  etymological  part  of  which  I  have  for  some  years 
liad  a  humble  share,  for  purposes  of  verification.  With- 
out the  materials  furnished  by  the  historical  method  of 
that  great  national  work,  which  is  now  complete  from 
A  to  R,  this  book  would  not  have  been  attempted. 
For    words    in    S    to    Z,    I    have    referred    chiefly    to 

^  For  a  list  of  these  see  p.  xii. 

2  Compilation  "pillage,  polling,  robbing"  (Cooper). 

^  Among  words  on  which  the  reader  will  find  either  entirely  new 
information  or  a  modification  of  generally  accepted  views  are  akimbo,  a^iface, 
hranks,  caulk^  ccckney^  fdon  (a  whitlow),  foil^  kestrel^  lugger^  ymdligrnhs^ 
?r.ystery  (a  craft),  oriel,  patch,  petronel,  salet,  sentry ^  sullen,  tret,  etc. 


PREFACE  ix 

Professor     Skeat's    Ety^nological    Dkttonary    (4th    ed, 
Oxford,  1 910). 

It  is  not  many  years  since  what  passed  for  etymology 
in  this  country  was  merely  a  congeries  of  wild  guesses 
and  manufactured  anecdotes.  The  persistence  with 
which  these  crop  up  in  the  daily  paper  and  the  class- 
room must  be  my  excuse  for  "  slaying  the  slain "  in 
Chapter  XIII.  Some  readers  may  regret  the  disap- 
pearance of  these  fables,  but  a  little  study  w ill  convince 
them  that  in  the  life  of  words,  as  in  that  of  men,  truth 
is  stranger  than  fiction. 

Ernest  Weekley. 

Nottingham, /^;z«rtrK  191 2. 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  WOPvDS 


CHAPTER   I 

OUR    VOCABULARY 

The  bulk  of  our  literary  language  is  Latin,  and  consists 
of  words  either  borrowed  directly  or  taken  from 
"  learned  "  French  forms.  The  every-day  vocabulary  of 
the  less  educated  is  of  Old  English,  commonly  called 
Anglo-Saxon,  origin  ;  and  from  the  same  source  comes 
what' we  may  call  the  machinery  of  the  language,  i.e.,  its 
inflexions,  numerals,  pronouns,  prepositions,  and  con- 
junctions. Along  with  Anglo-Saxon,  we  find  a  con- 
siderable number  of  words  from  the  related  Norse 
languages,  this  element  being  naturally  strongest  in  the 
dialects  of  the  north  and  east  of  England.  The  third 
great  element  of  our  working  vocabulary  is  furnished  by 
Old  French,  i.e.,  the  language  naturally  developed  from 
the  spoken  Latin  of  the  Roman  soldiers  and  colonists, 
generally  called  Vulgar  Latin.  To  its  composite  char- 
acter English  owes  its  unequalled  richness  in  expression. 
Fpr  most  ideas  we  have  three  separate  terms,  or  groups 
of  terms,  which,  often  starting  from  the  same  metaphor, 
serve  to  express  diiTerent  shades  of  meaning.  Thus  a 
deed  done  with  malice  prepense  (an  Old  French  com- 
pound from  Lat.  pensare,  to  weigh),  is  deliberate  or 
pondered,     both    Latin     words    which    mean    literally 


2  OUR  VOCABULARY 

*'  weighed " ;  but  the  four  words  convey  four  distinct 
shades  of  meaning.  The  Gk.  sympathy  is  Lat.  com- 
passzon^  rendered  in  English  hy  fellow-feeling. 

Sometimes  a  native  word  has  been  completely  sup- 
planted by  a  loan  word,  e.g.^  Anglo-Sax.  here^  army  {cf. 
Ger.'  Heer)^  has  given  way  to  Fr.  arm^e^  a  past  parti- 
ciple like  Span,  armada^  and  Jwst  (see  p.  147)-  Here  has 
survived  in  Hereford^  harbour  {^.  122),  harbinger  {^.  83), 
etc.,  and  in  the  verb  harry  (cf  Ger.  verheeren,  to  harry). 
Or  a  native  word  may  persist  in  some  special  sense,  e.g., 
weed^  a  general  term  for  garment  in  Shakespeare — 

"  And  there  the  snake  throws  her  enamel'd  skin, 
Weed  wide  enough  to  wrap  a  fairy  in." 

{Midsummer  Nighfs  Dream^  ii.  2.) 

survives  in  "  widow's  2t^^^<^j."     CJiare^  a  turn  of  work — 

"the  maid  that  milks 
And  does  the  meanest  chares^'' 

{Antony  and  Cleopatra^  iv.  15.) 

survives  \.x\  charwoman^  and  in  American  cJwre — 

" Sharlee  was  .  .  .  concluding  the  post-prandial  chores" 
(H.  S.  Harrison,   Queed^  Ch.  17.) 

Sake^  cognate  with  Ger.  Sache^  thing,  cause,  and  origin- 
ally meaning  a  contention  at  law,  has  been  replaced  by 
cruise^  except  in  phrases  beginning  with  the  preposition 
for.  See  also  bead  (p.  6Z\  U^ikenipt^  uncombed,  and 
iuicotithj  unknown,  are  fossil  remains  of  obsolete  verb 
forms. 

In  addition  to  these  main  constituents  of  our 
language,  we  have  borrowed  words,  sometimes  in 
considerable  numbers,  sometimes  singly  and  accident- 
all}^  from  almost  every  tongue  known  to  mankind,  and 
every  year  sees  new  words  added  to  our  vocabulary. 
The    following    chapters   deal    especially    with    words 


LATIN  WORDS  3 

borrowed  from  Old  French  and  from  the  other 
Romance  languages,  their  origins  and  journeyings, 
and  the  various  accidents  that  have  befallen  them  in 
English.  It  is  in  such  words  as  these  that  the  romance 
of  language  is  best  exemplified,  because  we  can  usually 
trace  their  history  from  Latin  to  modern  English,  while 
the  earlier  history  of  Anglo-Saxon  vrords  is  a  matter 
for  the  philologist. 

Words  borrowed  directly  from  Latin  or  Greek  lack 
this  intermediate  experience,  though  the  study  of  their 
original  meanings  is  full  of  surprises.  This,  however, 
is  merely  a  question  of  opening  a  Latin  or  Greek 
dictionary,  if  we  have  not  time  for  the  mom.ent's 
reflexion  which  would  serve  the  same  purpose.  Thus, 
to  take  a  dozen  examples  at  hazard,  to  abcnninate  is  to 
turn  shuddering  from  the  evil  C7?ien^  c,  generous  man  is  a 
man  of  "  race "  {geyiiis),  an  i7inuendo  can  be  conveyed 
"by  nodding,"  to  insiclt  is  to  "jump  on,"  a  legend  is 
something  "to  be  read,"  a  viamw.1  is  a  " /z^7;?^-book,"  an 
obligation  is  essentially  "binding,"  to  relent  is  to  "go 
slow]^  rivals  are  people  living  by  the  same  stream 
{riviis),  a  salary  is  an  allovrance  for  "salt"  (^^/),  a 
supercilioiLS  man  is  fond  of  lifting  his  eyebrozvs  {super- 
ciliic7n\  and  a  trivial  matter  is  so  commonplace  that  it 
can  be  picked  up  at  the  meeting  of  "three  ways" 
(JrivizDn),  Dexterity  implies  skill  with  the  "right"  hand 
{dexter),  while  sinister  preserves  the  superstition  of  the 
ill-omened  "  left." 

It  may  be  remarked  here  that  the  number  of 
Latin  words  used  in  their  unaltered  form  in  every-day 
English  is  larger  than  is  generally  realised.  Besides 
such  phrases  as  bona-fide,  post-morte7nj  viva-voce,  or  such 
abbreviations  as  A.M.,  a7ite  7neridie}?i,  D.V.,  Deo  volente, 
and  L.  s.  d.,  for  libm,  solidi,  denarii,  we  have,  without 
including    scientific    terms,    many    Latin    nouns,   e.g., 


4  '  OUR  VOCABULARY 

animal^  genius y  index ^  odium,  omen,  p7'emium,  radius, 
scintilla,  stimulus,  tribimal,  and  adjectives,  e.g.,  complex, 
lucifer,  miser,  pauper,  rnaxirmim,  senior,  and  the  un- 
grammatical  bonus.  The  Lat  veto,  I  forbid,  has  been 
worked  hard  of  late.  The  stage  has  given  us  exit,  he 
goes  out,  and  the  Universities  exeat,  let  him  go  out, 
while  law  language  contains  a  number  of  Latin  verb 
forms,  e.g.,  affidavit  (late  Latin),  he  has  testified,  caveat^ 
let  him  beware,  cognovit,  he  has  recognised — 

"You  gave  them  a  cognovit  for  the  amount  of  your  costs  after 
the  trial,  I'm  told." 

{Pickwick,  Ch.  46.) 

due  to  the  initial  words  of  certain  documents.  Similarly 
item,  also,  is  the  first  word  in  each  paragraph  of  an 
inventory.  With  this  we  may  compare  the  puruieiv  of 
a  statute,  from  the  Old  Fr.  pourveu  {pourvti),  provided, 
with  which  it  used  to  begin.  A  tenet  is  what  one 
"holds."  Fiat  means  "let  it  be  done."  When  Mr 
Weller  lamented,  "  Vy  worn't  there  a  alleybi?''  it  is  safe 
to  say  that  he  was  not  consciously  using  a  Latin  adverb, 
nor  is  the  printer  who  puts  in  a  viz.  always  aware  that 
this  is  an  old  abbreviation  for  videlicet,  i.e.,  videre  licet, 
it  is  permissible  to  see.  A  tiostrtcm  is  "our"  unfailing 
remedy,  and  ta?tdem,  at  length,  instead  of  side  by  side, 
is  a  university  joke. 

Sometimes  we  have  inflected  forms  of  Latin  words. 
A  rebus^  is  a  word  or  phrase  represented  "by  things." 
Requiem,  accusative  of  7'eqtiies,  rest,  is  the  first  word  of 
an  antiphon  used  in  the  mass  for  the  dead,  ^'  Requiein 
ceternam  dona  eis,  Domine,"  while  dirge  is  the  Latin 
imperative  dirige,  in  another  antiphon, "  Dirige,  Dominus 

^  But  the  \vord  comes  to  us  from  French.  In  the  1 6th  century  such 
puzzles  were  called  rebus  de  Picardie,  because  of  their  popularity  in  that 
province. 


LATIN  WORDS  5 

meus,  in  conspectu  tuo  vitam  meam."  The  spelling 
dirige  was  once  common — 

"Also  I  byqwethe  to  eche  of  the  paryshe  prystys  beying  at  my 
dyryge  and  masse  xiid." 

(Will  of  John  Perfay,  of  Bury  St  Edmunds,  1509.) 

Qtcery  was  formerly  written  qtuzre^  seek,  and  plaudit  is 
ior  plaudile,  clap  your  hands.  Debenture  is  for  debentur^ 
there  are  owing.  Dominie  is  the  Latin  vocative  domine^ 
formerly  used  by  schoolboys  in  addressing  their  master, 
vAxA^  pandy,  a  stroke  on  the  hand  with  a  cane,  is  from 
pande palmavt,  hold  out  your  hand.  Parse  is  the  Lat. 
pars^  occurring  in  the  question  Qucb  pars  orationis  ? 
What  part  of  speech?  Omnibus,  for  all,  is  a  dative 
plural.  Limbo  is  the  ablative  of  Lat.  limbus,  an  edge, 
hem,  in  the  phrase  "in  limbo  patrum,"  where  lijnbus 
is  used  for  the  abode  of  the  Old  Testament  saints  on 
the  verge  of  Hades.  It  is  already  jocular  in  Shake- 
speare— 

"  I  have  some  of  'em  in  Umbo  patmm,  and  there  they  are  like 
to  dance  these  three  days." 

{Henry  VIIL,  v.  3.) 

Folio,  quarto,  etc.,  are  ablatives,  from  the  phrases  in  folio, 
in  quarto,  etc.,  still  used  in  French.  Premises,  earlier 
premisses,  is  a  slightly  disguised  Lat.  prcsmissas,  the 
aforesaid,  lit.  sent  before,  used  in  deeds  to  avoid 
repeating  the  full  description  of  a  property.  It  is  thus 
the  same  word  as  logical  prejnisses,  or  assumptions. 
Quoruin  is  from  a  legal  formula  giving  a  list  of  persons 
"of  whom"  a  certain  number  must  be  present.  A 
teetotum  is  so  called  because  it  has,  or  once  had,  on  one 
of  its  sides,  a  T  standing  for  totum,  all.  It  was  also 
called  simply  a  totum.  The  other  three  sides  also  bore 
letters  to  indicate  what  share,  if  any,  of  the  stake  they 
represented.     Cotgrave  has    totum  {toton),  "  a   kind   of 

A  2 


6  OUR  VOCABULARY 

game  with  a  whirle-bone.'*  In  spite  of  the  interesting 
anecdote  about  the  temperance  orator  with  an 
impediment  in  his  speech,  it  was  probably  teetottini 
that  suggested  teetotaller. 

We  have  also  a  few  words  unaltered  from  Greek, 
e.g.,  analysis,  aroina^  atlas^  the  world-sustaining  demi- 
god whose  picture  used  to  decorate  map-books,  colon^ 
coinnia^  dogma,  epitome^  viiasma,  natisea^  lit.  sea-sickness, 
nectay,  whence  the  fruit  called  a  nectarine — 

"  Nectarine  fruits  which  the  compliant  boughs 
Yielded  them,  sidelong  as  they  sat  recline." 

{Paradise  Lost,  iv.,  332.) 

pathos^ python. pyx,  synopsis,  etc. ;  but  most  of  our  Greek 
words  have  passed  through  French  via  Latin,  or 
are  newly  manufactured  scientific  terms,  often  most 
unscientifically  constructed. 

Ganntt  contains  the  Gk.  gamma  and  the  Latin 
conjunction  nt.  Guy  d'Arezzo,  who  flourished  in  the 
nth  century,  is  said  to  have  introduced  the  method 
of  indicating  the  notes  by  the  letters  a  to  g.  For  the 
note  below  a  he  used  the  Gk.  gamma.  To  him  is  attri- 
buted also  the  series  of  monosyllables  by  which  the 
notes  are  also  indicated.  They  are  supposed  to  be 
taken  from  a  Latin  hymn  to  St  John — 

Ut  queant  laxls  r<?5on-are  nbris 
Mird^  gestorumyhmuli  tuorum 
Solv^  poiluti  ld\i\\  reatum 
^ancte  /ohannes. 

Do  is  sometimes  substituted  for  tit  in  French,  and 
always  in  modern  English. 

In  considering  the  Old  French  element  in  English, 
one  has  to  bear  in  mind  a  few  elementary  philological 
facts.  Nearly  all  French  nouns  and  adjectives  are 
derived    from    the   accusative.     I    give,   for    simplicity. 


FRENCH  DIALECTS  7 

the  nominative,  adding  the  stem  in  the  case  of 
imparisyllabic  words.  The  foundation  of  French  is 
Vulgar  Latin,  which  differs  considerably  from  that 
we  study  at  school.  I  only  give  Vulgar  Latin  forms 
where  it  cannot  be  avoided.  For  instance,  in  dealing 
with  adverin  (p.  34),  I  connect  Fr.  coideiivre^  adder, 
with  Lat.  coluber^  a  snake.  Every  Romance  philologist 
knows  that  it  must  represent  Vulgar  Lat.  *  colobra  ;  but 
this  form,  which,  being  conjectural,  is  marked  with  an 
asterisk,  had  better  be  forgotten  by  the  general 
reader. 

Our  modern  English  words  often  preserve  a  French 
form  which  no  longer  exists,  or  they  are  taken  from 
dialects,  especially  those  of  Normandy  and  Picardy, 
which  differ  greatly  from  that  of  Paris.  The  word 
caudle  illustrates  both  these  points.  It  is  the  same 
word  as  modern  Fr.  chaudeau^  "a  candle;  or,  warme 
broth  "  (Cotgrave),  but  it  preserves  the  Old  French  ^  -el 
and  the  Picard  c-  for  ch-.  An  uncomfortable  bridle 
which  used  to  be  employed  to  silence  scolds  was  called 
the  branks.  It  is  a  Scottish  word,  originally  applied 
to  a  bridle  improvised  from  a  halter  with  a  block 
of  wood  each  side  to  prevent  it  from  slipping.  These 
blocks  .correspond  to  the  two  parallel  levers  called 
the  "branches"  of  a  bridle,  and  brank  is  the  Norman 
bra?ique^  branch.  All  the  meanings  of  patcJi  answer  to 
those  of  Fr.  piece.  It  comes  from  the  Old  French 
dialect  form  peche^  as  match  comes  from  meche,  and 
cratch^  a  manger,  from  creche^  of  German  origin,  and 
ultimately  the  same  word  as  crib.  Pew  is  from  Old  Fr. 
puy^  a  stage,  eminence,  \.^\..  podium ^  which  survives  in 
Puy  de  Dome^  the  mountain  in  Auvergne  on  which 
Pascal  made  his  experiments  with  the  barometer.   Dupuy 

^  For  simplici'-v  the  term  Old  French  is  used  here  to  include  all  words 
not  in  modern  use.     "Where  a  modern  form  exists  it  is  given  in  parenthesis. 


8  OUR  VOCABULARY 

is  a  common  family  name   in  France,  but  the  Depews 
of  the  West  Indies  have  kept  the  older  pronunciation. 

Many  Old  French  words  which  live  on  in  England 
are  obsolete  in  France.  Ckz7?ie  is  Old  Fr.  chiynhe  from 
Greco-Lat.  cyinbahtm,  Minsheu  (1617)  derived  dismal 
from  Lat.  dies  mali^  evil  days.  This,  says  Trench, 
"is  exactly  one  of  those  plausible  etymologies  which 
one  learns  after  a  while  to  reject  with  contempt."  But 
Minsheu  is  substantially  right,  if  we  substitute  Old 
Yx.dis  ;;^^/,  which  is  found  as  early  as  1256.  Old  Fr. 
di,  2l  day,  also  survives  in  the  names  of  the  days  of  the 
week,  hmdiy  etc.  In  re7nainder  and  revinant  we  have  the 
infinitive  and  present  participle  of  an  obsolete  Old  French 
verb  derived  from  Lat.  rema7iere.  Ma?ior  diVid  powe?'  are 
also  Old  French  infinitives,  the  first  now  only  used 
as  a  noun  {rnanoir),  the  second  represented  hy  pouvoir, 
Misjiovier  is  the  Anglo-French  infinitive,  "  to  misname." 

In  some  cases  we  have  preserved  meanings  now 
obsolete  in  French.  Trumps  in  cards,  is  Fr.  triomphe, 
"the  card  game  called  ruffe,  or  t7'unip ;  also,  the  ruffe, 
or  tnmtp  at  it"  (Cotgrave),  but  the  modern  French 
word  for  trump  is  atottt,  to  all.  Rappee  is  for  obsolete 
Fr.  (tabac)  rape,  pulverised,  rasped.  Fr.  talo7i,  heel, 
from  Vulgar  Lat.  *  talo,  talo7i~,  for  talus ^  was  applied  by 
falconers  to  the  heel  claw  of  the  hawk.  This  meaning, 
obsolete  in  French,  has  persisted  in  English.  The  77iizen 
mast  is  the  rearmost  of  three,  but  the  Fr.  Didt  de  misaiTte 
is  the  fore-mast,  and  both  come  from  Ital.  i}iezza7ia, 
which  means  "  middle." 

'As  in  the  case  of  Latin,  we  have  some  inflected 
French  forms  in  English.  La7npoo7t  is  from  the 
archaic  Fr.  Ia77ip07i,  "a  drunken  song"  (Miege,  Frencli 
Diet.,  1688).  This  is  coined  from  the  imperative 
Ia7np07is,  let  us  drink,  regularly  used  as  a  refrain 
in   seditious   and    satirical   songs.     We   may   compare 

/' 
/ 


INFLECTED  FRENCH  FORMS  9 

American  vamoose,  from  Span.  va?7ios,  let  us  go.  The 
military  revelly  is  the  French  imperative  reveillez,  wake 
up,  but  in  the  French  army  it  is  called  the  diane.  The 
gist  of  a  matter  is  the  point  in  which  its  importance 
really  "lies."  Ci-git  for  ci-gist,  Lat.  jacet^  here  lies, 
is  seen  on  old  tombstones.  Te?77iisy  says  Minsheu, 
is  so  called  from  Fr.  tenez,  hold,  "which  word  the 
Frenchmen,  the  onely  tennis-players,  use  to  speake 
when  they  strike  the  ball"  This  etymology,  for  a 
long  time  regarded  as  a  wild  guess,  has  been  shewn 
by  recent  research  to  be  quite  correct.  The  game  was 
played  by  French  knights  in  Italy  a  century  before  we 
find  record  of  it  in  English.  Erasmus  tells  us  that  the 
server  called  out  accipCy  to  which  his  opponent  replied 
viitte,  and  as  French,  and  not  Latin,  was  certainly  the 
language  of  the  earliest  tennis-players,  we  may  infer 
that  the  spectators  named  the  game  from  the  foreign 
word  with  which  each  serv^ice  began.  The  French 
name  \s,  paiime^  palm  of  the  hand  ;  ci.  fives,  also  a  slang 
name  for  the  hand.     The  archaic  assozl,  Scot,  assoilzie — 

" '  God  assoilzie  her,"  ejaculated  old  Elspeth." 

{Antiquary^  Ch.  26.) 

is  the  present  subjunctive  of  the  Old  Fr.  asoldre 
(absoztdre),  to  absolve,  used  in  the  stereotyped  phrase 
Dieus  vos  asoile,  may  God  absolve  you. 

A  linguistic  invasion  such  as  that  of  English  by  Old 
French  is  almost  unparalleled  We  have  instances  of 
the  expulsion  of  one  tongue  by  another,  eg.,  of  the 
Celtic  dialects  of  Gaul  by  Latin  and  of  those  of  Britain 
by  Anglo-Saxon.  But  a  real  blending  of  two  languages 
can  only  occur  when  a  large  section  of  the  population 
is  bilingual  for  centuries.  This,  as  we  know,  was  the 
case  in  England.  The  Norman  dialect,  already  familiar 
through    inevitable    intercourse,   was    transplanted    to 


10  OUR  VOCABULARY 

England  in  1066.  It  developed  further  on  its  own 
lines  into  Anglo-Norman,  and  then,  mixed  with  other 
Frepch  dialects,  for  not  all  the  invaders  were  Normans, 
and  political  events  brought  various  French  provinces 
into  relation  with  England,  it  produced  Anglo-French, 
a  somewhat  barbarous  tongue  which  was  the  official 
language  till  1362,  and  with  which  our  legal  jargon 
is  saturated.  We  find  in  x^nglo  -  French  many  words 
which  are  unrecorded  in  continental  Old  French,  among 
them  one  which  we  like  to  think  of  as  essentially 
English,  viz.,  diiete^  duty,  an  abstract  formed  from  the 
past  participle  of  Fr.  devoir. 

No  dictionary  can  keep  up  with  the  growth  of  a 
language.  The  New  English  Dictionary  had  done  the 
letter  C  before  the  ci7ie7natograph  arrived,  but  got  it 
in  under  K.  Words  of  this  kind  are  manufactured  in 
such  numbers  that  the  lexicographer  is  inclined  to  wait 
and  see  v/hether  they  will  catch  on.  In  such  cases  it  is 
hard  to  prophesy.  The  population  of  this  country  may 
be  divided  into  those  people  who  have  been  operated 
for  appendicitis  and  those  who  are  going  to  be.  Yet 
this  word  was  considered  too  rare  and  obscure  for  in- 
sertion in  the  first  volume  of  the  New  English  Dictionary 
(1888),  the  greatest  word-book  that  has  ever  been  pro- 
jected. Sabotage  looks,  unfortunately,  as  if  it  had  come 
to  stay.  It  is  a  derivative  of  saboter,  to  scamp  work, 
from  sabot,  a  wooden  shoe,  used  contemptuously  of  an 
inferior  article.  The  great  French  dictionaries  do  not 
know  it  in  this  sense,  and  the  New  English  Dictionary, 
which  finished  Sa-  last  year,  has  just  missed  it. 
Hooligan  is  not  recorded  by  the  New  English  Dictionary. 
The  original  Hooligans  were  a  spirited  Irish  family  of 
that  name  whose  proceedings  enlivened  the  drab  mono- 
tony of  life  in  Southwark  about  fourteen  years  ago. 
The  word  is  younger  than  the  Australian  larrikin,  of 


NEOLOGISMS  11 

doubtful  origin  (see  p.  177),  but  older  than  Fr.  apache. 
The  adoption  of  the  Red  Indian  name  Apache  for  a 
modern  Parisian  street  ruffian  is  a  curious  parallel  to 
the  18th-century  use  of  Mohock  (Mohawk)  for  an  aristo- 
cratic London  ruffler. 

Heckle  is  first  recorded  in  its  political  sense  for  1880. 
The  Neiv  English  Dictmiary  quotes  it  from  Punch  in  con- 
nection with  the  Fourth  Party.  In  Scottish,  however,  it 
is  old  in  this  sense,  so  that  it  is  an  example  of  a  dialect 
word  that  has  risen  late  in  life.  Its  southern  form  JiatcJiell 
is  common  in  Mid.  English  in  its  proper  sense  of 
"  teasing "  hemp  or  flax,  and  the  metaphor  is  exactly 
the  same.  Tease^  earlier  toose^  means  to  pluck  or  pull 
to  pieces,  hence  the  name  teasel  for  the  thistle  used  by 
wool-carders.  The  older  form  is  seen  in  the  derivative 
tousle ^  the  family  name  Tozer^  and  the  dog's  name 
Towser.  Feckless^  a  common  Scottish  word,  was  hardly 
literary  English  before  Carlyle.  It  is  now  quite  familiar — 
"  Thriftless,  shiftless,  feckless."  (Mr  Lloyd  George,  in 
the  House,  ist  November  191 1).  There  is  a  certain 
appropriateness  in  the  fact  that  almost  the  first  writer 
to  use  it  was  James  I.  It  is  for  effectless.  I  never  heard 
of  a  week-end  till  I  paid  a  visit  to  Lancashire  in  1883. 
It  has  long  since  invaded  the  whole  island.  An  old 
geezer  has  a  modern  sound,  but  it  is  the  medieval  guiser^ 
guisardy  mummer,  which  has  persisted  in  dialect  and  re- 
entered the  language. 

The  fortunes  of  a  word  are  sometimes  determined 
by  accident.  Glamour  (see  p.  1 34)  was  popularised  by 
Scott,  who  found  it  in  old  ballad  literature.  Grail 
would  be  much  less  familiar  but  for  Tennyson.  Illascot, 
from  a  Provencal  word  meaning  sorcerer,  dates  from 
Audran's  operetta  La  Mascotte  (18S0).  Jingo  first 
appears  in  conjurors'  jargon  of  the  17th  century.  It 
has  been  conjectured  to  represent  Basque  jinko^  God, 


12  OUR  VOCABULARY 

picked  up  by  sailors.  If  this  is  the  case,  it  is  probably 
the  only  pure  Basque  word  in  English.  The  Ingoldsby 
derivation  from  St  Gengulphus,  "sometimes  styled 
*The  Living  Jingo/  from  the  great  tenaciousness  of 
vitality  exhibited  by  his  severed  m.embers,"  is  of  course 
a  joke.  In  1878,  when  war  with  Russia  seemed  im- 
minent, a  music-hall  singer,  the  great  Macdermott, 
delighted  large  audiences  with — 

"We  don't  want  to  fight,  but,  by //;z^<?,  if  we  do, 
We've  got  the  ships,  we've  got  the  men,  we've  got  the 
money  too." 

Hence  the  name  jingo  applied  to  that  ultra-patriotic 
section  of  the  population  which,  in  war-time,  attends  to 
the  shouting.  Fr.  chmivin^  a  jingo,  is  the  name  of 
a  real  Napoleonic  veteran  introduced  into  Scribe's  play 
Le  Soldat  Labmireur.  Barracking  is  known  to  us  only 
through  the  visits  of  English  cricket  teams  to  Australia. 
It  is  said  to  come  from  a  native  Australian  word 
meaning  derision.  The  American  catccus  was  first 
applied  (1878)  by  Lord  Beaconsfield  to  the  Birming- 
ham Six  Hundred.  In  18th-century  American  it 
means  meeting  or  discussion.  It  is  probably  connected 
with  a  North  American  Indian  (Algonkin)  word  mean- 
ing counsellor,  an  etymology  supported  by  that  oi povj- 
ziwiv^  a  palaver  or  confab,  the  Algonkin  for  a  medicine- 
man. With  these  words  may  be  mentioned  Tammany, 
now  used  of  a  corrupt  political  body,  but,  in  the  i8th 
century,  of  a  society  named  after  the  patron  saint  of 
Pennsylvania.  The  original  Tammany  was  an  Indian 
chief  with  whom  William  Penn  negotiated  for  grants 
of  land  about  the  end  of  the  17th  century.  Littoral 
first  became  familiar  in  connection  with  Italy's  ill- 
starred  Abyssinian  adventure,  and  hinterlaftd  marks 
the  appearance  of  Germany  as  a  colonial  power — 


WORDS  DUE  TO  ACCIDENT  13 

"'Let  us  glance  a  moment/ said  Mr  Queed,  'at  Man,  as^  we 
see  him  first  emerging  from  the  dark  hinUrlands  of  history.'" 

(H.  S.  Harrison,  Queed^  Ch.  17.) 

Sometimes    the     blunder    of   a    great    writer    has 
enriched  the  language.     Scott's  bartisan — 

.  "  Its  varying  circle  did  combine 
Bulwark,  and  bartisan^  and  line 
And  bastion,  tower  ...'"' 

{Marmion^  vi.  2.) 

is  a  mistake  for  bratticing^  timber-work,  a  word  of 
obscure  origin.  It  is  rather  a  favourite  with  writers  of 
"  sword  and  feather  "  novels.  Other  sham  antiques  are 
slug-horn^  Chatterton's  absurd  perversion  of  the  Gaelic 
slogan^  war-cry,  copied  by  William  Morris,  and  Scott's 
extraordinary  misuse  of  warisoji^  security,  a  doublet  of 
garrison,  as  though  it  meant  "  war  sound  " — 

"  Or  straight  they  sound  their  -warison^ 
And  storm  and  spoil  thy  garrison." 

{Lay,  IV.  21.) 

Scott  also  gave  currency  to  niddering,  a  coward — "  faith- 
less, mansworn,^  and  ?ndderi?ig'"  (Jvanhoey  Ch.  43), 
which  has  been  copied  by  Lytton  and  Kingsley,  and 
elaborated  into  niddo'lijig  by  Mr  Crockett.  It  is  a 
misprint  in  an  early  edition  of  William  of  Malmesbury 
for  niding  or  nitJiing,  cognate  with  Ger.  Neid,  envy. 
This  word,  says  Camden,  is  mightier  than  Abracadabra^ 
for  "it  hath  levied  armies  and  subdued  rebellious 
enemies."     Der?'zng-do  is  used  several  times  by  Spenser, 

^  From  Anglo-Sax.  mdn^  deceit,  cognate  with  the  first  syllable  of  Ger. 
Meimidy  perjury. 

2  This  word,  which  looks  like  an  unsuccessful  palindrome,  belongs  to 
the  language  cf  medieval  magic  It  seems  to  be  artificially  elaborated  from 
dppa^dj,  a  word  of  Persian  origin  used  by  a  sect  of  Greek  gnostics.  Its 
letters  make  up  the  magic  number  365,  supposed  to  represent  the  number 
of  spirits  subject  to  the  supreme  being. 


14  OUR  VOCABULARY 

who  explains  it  as  "  manhood  and  chevalrie."  It  is  due 
to  his  misunderstanding  of  a  passage  in  Lidgate,  in 
which  it  is  an  imitation  of  Chaucer,  complicated  by  a 
misprint.     Scott  took  it  from  Spenser — 

"'Singular,'  he  again  muttered  to  himself,  *  if  there  be  two  who 
can  do  a  deed  of  such  derring-do.^ "    {Ivanhce^  Ch.  29.) 

and  from  him  it  passed  to  Bulwer  Lytton  and  later 
writers. 

Such  words  as  these,  the  illegitimate  offspring  of 
genius,  are  to  be  distinguished  from  the  "  ghost  words" 
which  dimly  haunt  the  dictionaries  without  ever  having 
lived  (see  p.  188).  Speaking  generally,  we  may  say  that 
no  word  is  ever  created  de  7iovo.  The  names  invented 
for  commercial  purposes  are  not  exceptions  to  this  law. 
Bovril  is  compounded  of  Lat.  bos,  ox,  and  vril^  the 
mysterious  power  which  plays  so  important  a  part  in 
Lytton's  Corning  Race^  while  Tojw-Bzmgay  suggests  tonic. 
The  only  exception  to  this  is  gas,  the  arbitrary  coinage 
of  the  Belgian  chemist  Van  Helmont  in  the  17th 
century.  But  even  this  is  hardly  a  new  creation, 
because  we  have  Van  Helmont's  own  statement  that 
the  word  chaos  was  vaguely  present  to  his  mind. 
Chortle  has,  however,  secured  a  limited  currency,  and  is 
admitted  by  the  New  Engiish  Dictio?iary — 

"O  frabjous  day  !  Callooh  !  callay  ! 
He  chortled  m  his  joy." 

{Through  the  Looking-Glassi) 

and,  though  an  accurate  account  of  the  boojurn  is  lacking, 
most  people  know  it  to  be  a  dangerous  variety  of  syiark. 


CHAPTER   II 

WANDERINGS  OF  WORDS 

In  assigning  to  a  word  a  foreign  origin,  it  is  necessary 
to  show  how  contact  between  the  two  languages  has 
taken  place,  or  the  particular  reasons  which  have 
brought  about  the  borrowing.  A  Chinese  word  cannot 
suddenly  make  its  appearance  in  Anglo-Saxon,  though 
it  may  quite  well  do  so  in  modern  English.  No 
nautical  terms  have  reached  us  from  the  coast  of 
Bohemia  (  VVinfef^s  Tale,  iii.  3),  nor  is  the  vocabulary  of 
the  wine  trade  enriched  by  Icelandic  words.  Although 
we  have  words  from  all  the  languages  of  Europe,  our 
direct  borrowings  from  some  of  them  have  been  small. 
The  majority  of  High  German  words  in  English  have 
passed  through  Old  French,  and  we  have  taken  little 
from  modern  German.  On  the  other  hand,  commerce 
has  introduced  .a  great  many  words  from  the  old  Low 
German  dialects  of  the  North  Sea  and  the  Baltic. 
/-':  The  Dutch  ^  element  in  English  supplies  a  useful 
object  lesson  on  the  way  in  which  the  borrowing  of 
words  naturally  takes  place.  As  a  great  naval  power, 
the  Dutch  have  contributed  to  our  nautical  vocabulary 
a  number  of  words,  many  of  which  are  easily  recognised 
as    near    relations;    such    are    boojn    (beam),    skipper 

1  This  includes  Flemish,  spoken  in  a  large  part  of  Belgium  and  in  the 
'  North  East  of  France. 
15 


16  WANDERINGS  OF  WORDS 

(shipper),  orlop  (over  leap).  Yacht,  properly  a  "  hunt- 
ing "  ship,  is  cognate  with  Ger.  Jagd^  hunting,  but  has 
no  English  kin.  Hexham  h3.s  jaght,  zee-roovers  schip, 
"pinace,  or  pirats  ship."  The  modern  Dutch  spelling  is 
jacht.  We  should  expect  to  find  art  terms  from  the 
country  of  Hobbem.a,  Rubens,  Vandyke,  etc.  See  easel 
(p.  35),  etch  (p.  123),  lay-'figure  (p.  154),  sketch  (p.  20). 
Landscape,  earlier  la?idskzp,  has  the  suffix  which  in 
English  would  be  ship.  In  the  i6th  century  Camden 
speaks  of  "  a  landskip,  as  they  call  it."  The  Low 
Countries  were  for  two  centuries  the  cockpit  of  Europe, 
and  many  military  terms  were  brought  back  to  England 
by  Dugald  Dalgetty  and  the  armies  which  "swore 
terribly  in  Flanders."  Such  are  cashier  (p.  1^6),  forlorn 
hope  {p.  119),  tattoo  (p.  150).  Other  interesting  military 
words  are  leaguer  (lair),  recently  re-introduced  from 
South  Africa  as  laager,  and  furlough,  formerly  pro- 
nounced to  rime  with  cough,  from  Du.  verlof{ior  leave)  ; 
if  archaic  Ger.  Verlaub,  now  replaced  by  Urlaub. 
I'Znapsack}  a  food  sack,  comes  from  colloquial  Du.  knap, 
food,  or  what  the  Notts  colliers  call  snap.  We  also 
find  it  called  a  snapsack.  Roster  (roaster)  is  the  Dutch 
for  gridiron  ;  for  a  somewhat  similar  metaphor  cf.  cancel 
(p.  80).     The  pleasant  fiction  that — 

"The  children  of  Holland  take  pleasure  in  making 
What  the  children  of  England  take  pleasure  in  breaking," 

confirms  the  derivation  o{  toy  from  Du.  tuig,  implement, 
thing,  stuff,  etc.,  a  word,  like  its  German  cognate  Zeug, 
with  an  infinity  of  meanings.  We  now  limit  toy  to  the 
special  sense  represented  by  Du.  speel-tuig,  play-thing. 

Our  vocabulary  dealing  with  war  and  fortification  is 
chiefiy  French,  but  most  of  the  French  'terms  come  from 
Italian.     Addison  wrote  an  article  in  No.   165   of    TJie 

1  Haver:ack,  oat  sack,  comes  through  French  from  German. 


TARTAN— KILT— DIRK  17 

Spectator  ridiculing  the  Frenchified  character  of  the 
military  language  of  his  time,  and,  in  the  i6th  century, 
Henri  Estienne,  patriot,  printer,  and  philologist, 
lamented  that  future  historians  would  believe,  from  the 
vocabulary  employed,  that  France  had  learnt  the  art  of 
war  from  Italy.  As  a  matter  of  fact  she  did.  The 
earliest  writers  on  the  new  tactics  necessitated  by 
villainous  saltpetre  were  Italians  trained  in  condottiere 
warfare.  They  were  followed  by  the  great  French 
theorists  and  engineers  of  the  i6th  and  17th  centuries, 
who  naturally  adopted  a  large  number  of  Italian  terms 
which  thus  passed  later  into  English. 

A  considerable  number  of  Spanish  and  Portuguese 
words  have  reached  us  in  a  very  roundabout  way  (see 
pp.  20-4).  This  is  not  surprising  when  we  consider  how 
in  the  15th  and  i6th  centuries  the  world  was  dotted  with 
settlements  due  to  the  Portuguese  and  Spanish  adven- 
turers who  had  a  hundred  years'  start  of  our  own. 

There  are  very  few  Celtic  words  either  in  English  or 
French.  In  each  country  the  result  of  conquest  was, 
from  the  point  of  view  of  language,  complete.  A  few 
words  from  the  Celtic  languages  have  percolated  into 
English  in  comparatively  recent  times,  but  many  terms 
which  we  associate  with  the  picturesque  Highlanders 
are  not  Gaelic  at  all.^  Tartan  comes  through  P'rench 
from  the  Tartars  (see  p.  43) ;  kilt  is  a  Scandinavian 
verb,  " to  tuck  up,"  and  dirk'^-  of  unknown  origin,  first 
appears  about  1600.     For  treivs  see  p.  109. 

A  very  interesting  part  of  our  vocabulary,  the 
canting,  or  roguQS>\  language,  dates  mostly  from  the  17th 

^  This  applies  also  to  seme  of  the  clan  names,  e.g.,  Macpherson^  son  of  the 
parson,  Macnah^  son  of  the  abboL 

^  My  own  conviction  is  that  it  is  identical  with  Dan.  dirik,  dirk^  a  pick- 
lock. See  dietrick  (p.  38).  An  implement  used  for  opening  an  enemy  may 
well  have  been  named  in  this  way.  Cf.  Du.  opsUeker  (up  sticker),  "  a  pick- 
lock, a  great  knife,  or  a  dagger"  (Sewel,  1727). 

B 


IS  WANDERIiNGS  OF  WORDS 

and  i8th  centuries,  and  includes  contributions  from  most 
of  the  European  languages,  together  with  a  large  Romany 
element.  The  early  dictionary  makers  paid  great  atten- 
tion to  this  aspect  of  the  language.  Elisha  Coles,  who 
published  a  fairly  complete  English  dictionary  in  1676, 
says  in  his  preface,  "'Tis  no  disparagement  to  understand 
the  canting  terms :  it  may  chance  to  save  your  throat  frorti 
being  cut,  or  (at  least),  your  pocket  from  being  pick'd." 

Words  often  go  long  journeys.  Boss  is  in  English 
a  comparatively  modern  Americanism.  But,  like  many 
American  words,  it  belongs  to  the  language  of  the  Dutch 
settlers  who  founded  New  Amsterdam  (New  York).  It 
is  Du.  baaSy  master,  which  has  thus  crossed  the  Atlantic 
twice  on  its  way  to  England.  A  number  of  Dutch 
words  have  become  familiar  to  us  in  recent  years  in 
consequence  of  the  South  African  war.  One  of  them, 
slim^  'cute,  seems  to  have  been  definitely  adopted.  It  is 
cognate  with  Ger.  schlimm,  bad,  and  Eng.  slzm,  slender, 
and  the  latter  word  has  for  centuries  been  used  in  the 
Eastern  counties  in  the  very  sense  in  which  it  has  now 
been  re-introduced. 

Apricot  is  a  very  travelled  word.  It  comes  to  us 
from  Fr.  abrzcot^  while  the  Shakespearean  apj^icock 
{Richard  ILy  iii.  4)  represents  the  Spanish  or  Portu- 
guese form.  Ger.  Aprikose  comes,  via  Dutch,  from  the 
French  plural.  The  word  was  adopted  into  the 
Romance  languages  from  Arab,  al-barkok,  where  al  is 
the  definite  article  {cf.  examples  on  p.  io6),\v\\\\q  barkok 
comes,  through  medieval  Greek,  from  Vulgar  Lat. 
prcBcoquum,  for  prcucoXy  early-ripe.  Thus  the  word  first 
crossed  the  Adriatic,  passed  on  to  Asia  Minor  or  the 
North  coast  of  Africa,  and  then  travelling  along  the 
Mediterranean  re-entered  Southern  Europe. 

Many  other  Arabic  trade  words  have  a  similar  history. 
Carat  comes  to  us,  through  French,  from  Italian  carato^ 


ARABIC  TRADE  WORDS  19 

"a  waight  or  degree  called  a  caract"  (Florio).  The 
Italian  word  is  from  Arabic,  but  the  latter  is  a  corrup- 
tion of  Gk.  Kcpdriov,  fruit  of  the  locust  tree,  lit.  little 
horn,  also  used  of  a  small  weight.  The  verb  to  garble, 
now  used  only  of  confusing  or  falsifying,^  meant  origin- 
ally to  sort  or  sift,  especially  spices — 

"  Garbler  of  spices  is  an  officer  of  great  antiquity  in  the  city  of 
London,  who  may  enter  into  any  shop,  warehouse,  etc.,  to  view 
and  search  drugs,  spices,  etc.,  and  to  garble  the  same  and  m.ake 
them  clean." — (Cowel's  Interpreter.) 

It  represents  Span,  garbellar^  from  garbello,  a  sieve. 
This  comes  from  Arab,  garbil,  a  sieve,  borrowed 
from  Lat.  cribelhim^  diminutive  of  cribrmn.  Qumtal, 
an  old  word  for  hundredweight,  looks  as  if  it  had 
something  to  do  with  five.  Fr.  and  Span,  quintal  are 
from  Arab,  qintar^  hundredweight,  which  is  Lat.  cen- 
tenarium  (whence  directly  Ger.  Zentner^  hundredweight). 
The  French  word  passed  into  Dutch,  and  gave,  with  a 
diminutive  ending,  kindekijn,  now  replaced  by  ki?metje, 
a  firkin.^  We  have  adopted  it  as  kilderkin.  With  these 
examples  of  words  that  have  passed  through  Arabic  may 
be  mentioned  talisman,  not  a  very  old  word  in  Europe, 
from  Arab,  telsam,  magic  picture,  ultimately  from  Gk. 
Tekuv,  to  initiate  into  mysteries,  lit.  to  accomplish,  and 
effendi,  a  Turkish  corruption  of  Gk.  auOePTrjg,  a  master, 
cognate  with  authentic. 

Hussar  seems  to  be  a  late  Latin  word  which 
passed  into  Greece  and  then  entered  Central  Europe 
via  the  Balkans.  It  comes  into  16th-century  German 
from    Hungar.    Jmszar,    freebooter.      This    is    from    a 

^  "It  was  a  wholly  garbled  version  of  what  never  took  place"  (Mr 
Bu-rell,  in  the  House,  26th  Oct.  1911).  The  bull  appears  to  be  a  laudable 
concession  to  Irish  national  feeling. 

^  Formerly  ferdekin,  a  derivative  of  Du.  vierde^  fourth  ;  cf.  farthing,  a 
little  fourth. 


20  WANDERINGS  OF  WORDS 

Servian  word  which  means  also  pirate.  It  represents 
medieval  Gk.  Kovpcrdpio^y  a  transliteration  of  Vulgar  Lat. 
cicrsaritis,  from  ciirrere^  to  run,  which  occurs  also 
v/ith  the  sense  of  pirate  in  medieval  Latin.  Hussar 
is  thus  a  doublet  of  corsair.  The  immediate  source 
of  sketch  is  Du.  schets^  "  draught  of  any  picture " 
(Hexham),  from  Ital.  schizzo^  "  an  ingrosement  or 
first  rough  draught  of  anything "  (Florio),  whence  also 
Fr.  esqiiisse  and  Ger.  Skizze.  The  Italian  word 
represents  Greco-Lat  schedium^  an  extempore  effort. 

Assassin  and  slave  are  of  historic  interest. 
Assassin^  though  not  very  old  in  English,  dates  from 
the  Crusades.  Its  oldest  European  form  is  Ital. 
assassifzo,  and  it  was  adopted  into  French  in  the 
i6th  century.  Henri  Estienne,  whose  fiery  patriotism 
entered  even  into  philological  questions,  reproaches  his 
countrym.en  for  using  foreign  terms.  They  should 
only  adopt,  he  says,  Italian  words  which  express 
Italian  qualities  hitherto  unknown  to  the  French,  such 
as  assassin,  charlatan,  poltro?i  I  Assassin  is  really  a 
plural,  from  the  hachaschin,  eaters  of  haschish,  who 
executed  the  decrees  of  the  Old  Man  of  the  Mountains. 
It  was  one  of  these  who  stabbed  Ed^vard  Longshanks 
at  Acre.  The  first  slaves  were  captive  Slavonians.  We 
find  the  word  in  most  of  the  European  languages. 
The  fact  that  none  of  the  Western  tribes  of  the  race 
called  themselves  Slays  or  Slavonians  shows  that 
the  v/ord  could  not  have  entered  Europe  via  Germany, 
where  the  Slavs  were  called  Wends.  It  must  have 
come  from  the  Byzantine  empire  via  Italy. 

Some  Spanish  words  have  also  come  to  us  by  the 
indirect  route.  The  cocoa,  which  is  grateful  and  com- 
forting, was  formerly  spelt  cacao,  as  in  French  and 
German.  It  is  a  Mexican  word.  The  cocoa  of  cocoa-7iut 
is  for  coco,  a  Spanish  baby  word  for  an  ugly  face  or 


COW-BOY  WORDS  21 

bogie-man.  The  black  marks  at  one  end  of  the  nut 
give  it,  especially  before  the  removal  of  the  fibrous 
husk,  some  resemblance  to  a  ferocious  face.  Stevens 
(1706)  explains  coco  as  "  the  word  us'd  to  fright  children  ; 
as  we  say  the  Bulbeggar." 

Mustafig  seems  to  represent  two  words,  ineste7igo 
y  7nostrenco,  "  a  straier  "  (Percyvall).  The  first  appears 
to  be  connected  with  inesta^  "a  monthly  fair  among 
herdsmen  ;  also,  the  laws  to  be  observed  by  all  that 
keep  or  deal  in  cattle "  (Stevens),  and  the  second  with 
moslrary  to  show,  the  finder  being  expected  to  advertise 
a  stray.  The  original  ip^us tangs  were  of  course" 
descended  from  the  strayed  horses  of  the  Spanish 
conquistadors.  Ranch,  Span,  rancho,  a  row  (of  huts),  is 
a  doublet  of  rank^  from  Fr.  ra)ig,  old  Fr.  I'cng,  Old 
High  Ger.  kring,  a  ring.  Thus  what  is  now  usually 
straight  was  once  circular,  the  ground  idea  of  ^.xrange- 
ment  surviving.  Another  doublet  is  Fr.  harangue,  due 
to  the  French  inability  to  pronounce  hr  (see  p.  50),  a 
speech  delivered  in  the  ring.  6"A  also  Ital.  artngo/' ^. 
riding  or  carreering  place,  a  liste  for  horses,  or  feates 
of  armes  :  a  declamation,  an  oration,  a  noise,  a  common 
loud  speech  "  (Florio),  in  which  the  "  ring  "  idea  is  also 
prominent. 

Other  "cow-boy"  words  of  Spanish  origin  are  the 
less  familiar  cinch,  girth  of  a  horse,  Span.  cincJia,  from 
Lat.  cinguia,  also  used  metaphorically — 

"The  state  of  the  elements  enabled  Mother  Nature  'to  get  a 
cinch^  on  an  honourable  ssstheticism." — (Snaith,  Mrs  Fitz,  Ch.  i.) 

and  the  formidable  riding-whip  called  a  qnirt,  Span. 
ctierda,  cord.  We  have  the  same  transference  of  mean- 
ing in  Span,  reata,  a  rope,  from  the  verb  reatar,  to  bind 
together,  Lat.  re-aptare.  This  means  a  tethering  rope 
in  Bret  Harte,  but  in  contemporary  novels  of  Californian 

B  2 


22  WANDERINGS  OF  WORDS 

life  it  is  used  for  a  whip.     Combined  with  the  definite 
article,  la  reata^  it  has  given  lariat^  a  familiar  word  in 
literature  of  the  Buffalo   Bill  character.     LassOy  Span, 
lasoy  Lat.  laqiieus,  snare,  is  a  doublet  of  Eng.  lace. 
When,  in  the  Song  of  Hiawatha — 

"  Gitche  Manito,  the  mighty, 
Smoked  the  calumet^  the  Peace-pipe,    . 
As  a  signal  to  the  nations," 

he  was  using  an  implement  with  a  French  name. 
Caluinet  is  an  Old  Norman  word  for  chahimeaii^  reed, 
pipe,  a  diminutive  from  \.2l\..  calamus.  It  was  naturally 
applied  by  early  French  voyagers  to  the  "long  reed 
for  a  pipe  stem."  English  shawm  is  the  same  word 
without  the  diminutive  ending.  Another  Old  French 
word,  once  common  in  English,  but  now  found  only 
in  dialect,  is  felon^  a  whitlow.  It  is  used  more  than 
once  by  Mr  Hardy — 

"I've  been   visiting  to   Bath  because    I   had  2l  felon  on  my 
thumb.*' — {Far from  the  Madding  Crowd^  Ch.  xxxiii.) 

This  is  still  an  everyday  word  in  Canada  and  the 
United  States.  It  is  a  metaphorical  use  oi  felon ^  a  fell 
villain.  A  whitlow  was  called  in  Latin  fiirimculus,  "  a 
little  theefe;  a  sore  in  the  bodie  called  a  fellon" 
(Cooper),  v/hence  Fr.  fiironcle,  or  froncle,  *'  the  hot  and 
hard  bumpe,  or  swelling,  tearmed,  a  fellon  "  (Cotgrave). 
Another  Latin  name  for  it  was  iagax^  "  a  felon  on  a 
man's  finger "  (Cooper),  lit,  thievish.  One  of '  its 
Spanish  names  is  padrastro^  lit.  step-father.  I  am  told 
that  an  " agnail "  was  form.erly  called  a  "step-mother" 
in  Yorkshire.  This  is  a  good  example  of  the  semantic 
method  in  etymology  (see  pp.  92-6). 

Some  of  the  above  instances  show  how  near  to  home 
we  can  often  track  a  word  which  at  first  sight  appears 


PORTUGUESE  WORDS  23 

to  belong  to  another  continent.  This  is  still  more 
strikingly  exemplified  in  the  case  of  Portuguese  words, 
which  have  an  almost  uncanny  way  of  pretending  to 
be  African  or  Indian.  Some  readers  will,  I  think,  be 
surprised  to  hear  that  assegai  occurs  in  Chaucer,  though 
in  a  form  not  easily  recognisable.  It  is  a  Berber  word 
which  passed  through  Spanish  and  Portuguese  into 
French  and  English.  We  find  Fr.  archegaie  in  the 
14th  century,  azagaie  in  Rabelais,  and  the  modern  form 
zagaie  in  Cotgrave,  who  describes  it  as  "  a  fashion  of 
slender,  long,  and  long-headed  pike,  used  by  the 
Moorish  horsemen."  In  Mid.  English  rarchegaie  was 
corrupted  by  folk  etymology  (see  p.  106)  into  laricegay^ 
lanncegayey  the  form  used  by  Chaucer.  The  use  of  this 
weapon  was  prohibited  by  statute  in  1406,  hence  the 
early  disappearance  of  the  word. 

Another  "  Zulu  "*  word  which  has  travelled  a  lone 
way  is  kraal.  This  is  a  contracted  Dutch  form  from 
Port,  curralj  a  sheepfold  {cf.  Span,  con-al^  a  pen,  enclosure). 
Both  assegai  and  kraal  were  taken  to  South  East  Africa 
by  the  Portuguese  and  then  adopted  by  the  Boers  and 
Kafirs.^  Sjambok  occurs  in  17th-century  accounts  of 
India  in  the  form  chawhick.  It  is  a  Persian  word, 
spelt  chabotik  by  Moore,  in  Lalla  Rook/i.  It  was 
adopted  by  the  Portuguese  as  chabuco\  "  (in  the 
Portuguese  India)  a  whip  or  scourge  "  -  (Vieyra,  Port. 
Diet. J  1794).  Fetish^  an  African  idol,  first  occurs  in  the 
records  of  the  early  navigators,  collected  and  published 
by  Purchas  and  Hakluyt.  It  is  the  V ort.  feitico^  Lat. 
factitiuSy  artificial,  applied  by  the  Portuguese  explorers 

*  Ka/ir  (Arab.)  means  infidel. 

^  Eng.  chawhuck  is  used  in  connection  with  the  punishment  we  call  the 
bastinado.  This  is  a  corruption  of  Span,  hastojiada,  •*  a  stroke  with  a  club 
or  staff"  (Stevens,  1706).  On  the  other  hand,  we  extend  the  meaning  of 
drub^  the  Arabic  word  for  bastinado^  to  a  beating  of  any  kind. 


24  WANDERINGS  OF  AVORDS 

to  the  graven  images  of  the  heathen.  The  correspond- 
ing Old  Fr.  faitis  is  rather  a  complimentary  adjective, 
and  everyone  remembers  the  lady  in  Chaucer  who 
spoke  French  fairly  and  fetotisli.  Palaver^  also  a 
travellers'  word  from  the  African  coast,  is  Voxt.palavra^ 
v/ord,  speech,  Greco-Lat.  parabola.  It  is  thus  a  doublet 
oi parole  3.nd  parable,  and  is  related  to  parley.  Ayah,  an 
Indian  nurse,  is  Port,  aia,,  nurse,  of  unknown  origin. 
Caste  is  Port  casta,  pure,  and  a  doublet  of  chaste.  Tank, 
an  Anglo-Indian  word  of  which  the  meaning  has 
narrowed  in  this  country,  is  Port,  tanqtie,  a  pool  or 
cistern,  Lat.  stagmim,  whence  Old  Fr.  estajig  (/tang) 
and  provincial  Eng.  stank,  a  dam,  or  a  pond  banked 
round.  Cobra  is  the  Portuguese  for  snake,  cognate 
with  Fr.  cotileuvre,  Lat.  coluber  (see  p.  7).  We  use  it 
as  an  abbreviation  for  cobra  de  capello,  hooded  snake, 
the  second  part  of  which  is  identical  with  Fr.  chapeaii 
and  cognate  with  cape,  chapel  (p.  141),  chaplet,  a  garland, 
and  chaperon,  a  "  protecting  "  hood.  From  still  further 
afield  than  India  Q.o\iit.sjoss,  a  Chinese  god,  a  corruption 
of  Port,  deos,  Lat.  dens.  Even  mandarin  comes  from 
Portuguese,  and  not  Chinese,  but  it  is  of  Eastern  origin, 
probably  Malay. 

The  word  gorilla  is  perhaps  African,  but  more  than 
two  thousand  years  separate  its  first  appearance  from 
its  present  use.  In  the  5th  or  6th  century,  B.C.,  a 
Carthaginian  navigator  named  Hanno  sailed  beyond 
the  Pillars  of  Hercules  along  the  west  coast  of  Africa. 
He  probably  followed  very  much  the  same  route  as  Sir 
Richard  Dalyngridge  and  Saxon  Hugh  when  they 
voyaged  with  Witta  the  Viking.  He  wrote  in  Punic  a 
record  of  his  adventures,  which  was  received  with 
the  incredulity  usually  accorded  to  travellers'  tales. 
Among  the  wonders  he  encountered  were  some  hairy 
savages  called  gorillas.     His  work  was  translated  into 


SILK  ^  25 

Greek  and  later  on  into  several  European  languages, 
so  that  the  word  became  familiar  to  naturalists.  In 
1847  it  was  applied  to  the  giant  ape,  which  had  recently 
become  known  to  naturalists. 

The  origin  of  the  word  silk  is  a  curious  problem. 
It  is  usually  explained  as  from  Greco-Lat.  sericiini^  a 
name  derived  from,  an  Eastern  people  called  the  Seres^ 
presumably  the  Chinese.  It  appears  in  Anglo-Saxon 
as  seolc.  Now,  at  that  early  period,  words  of  Latin 
origin  came  to  us  by  the  overland  route  and  left  traces 
of  their  passage.  But  all  the  Romance  languages  use 
for  silk  a  name  derived  from  Lat.  scsta^  bristle,  and 
this  name  has  penetrated  even  into  German  {Sezde)  and 
Dutch  {zijde).  The  derivatives  of  seriacm  stand  for 
another  material,  serge.  Nor  can  it  be  assumed  that 
the  r  of  the  Latin  word  would  have  become  in  English 
always  /and  never  r.  There  are  races  which  cannot 
sound  the  letter  r,  but  we  are  not  one  of  them.  As  the 
word  silk  is  found  also  in  Old  Norse,  Swedish,  Danish, 
and  Old  Slavonian,  the  natural  inference  is  that  it  must 
have  reached  us  along  the  north  of  Europe,  and,  if 
derived  from  serictmi,  it  must,  somewhere  in  Asia,  have 
passed  through  a  language  which  had  nor. 


CHAPTER   III 

WORDS  OF   POPULAR   MANUFACTURE 

In  a  sense,  all  nomenclature,  apart  from  purely  scientific 
language,  is  popular.  But  real  meanings  are  often  so 
rapidly  obscured  that  words  become  mere  labels  and 
cease  to  call  up  the  image  or  the  poetic  idea  with  which 
they  were  first  associated.  To  take  a  simple  instance, 
how  many  people  realise  that  the  daisy  is  the  ''day's 
eye  ?  "  In  studying  that  part  of  our  vocabulary  which 
especially  illustrates  the  tendencies  shown  in  popular 
name-giving,  one  is  struck  by  the  keen  observation  and 
im.aginative  power  shown  by  our  far-off  ancestors,  and 
the  lack  of  these  qualities  in  later  ages. 

Perhaps  in  no  part  of  the  language  does  this  appear 
so  clearly  as  in  the  names  of  plants  and  flowers.  The 
most  primitive  way  of  naming  a  flower  is  from  some 
observed  resemblance,  and  it  is  curious  to  notice  the 
parallelism  of  this  process  in  various  languages.  Thus 
our  crowfoot,  crane's  bill,  larkspur,  vionkshood,  snap- 
dragon, are  in  German  Hahnenfuss  (cock's  foot),  Storch- 
schnabeKstoxk's  bill),  Rittersporn  (knight's  spur),  Eise?thut 
(iron  hat),  Lbwenmaiil  (lion's  mouth).  I  have  purposely 
chosen  instances  in  which  the  correspondence  is  not 
absolute,  because  examples  like  Lbwenzahn  (lion's 
tooth),   da?idelion   (Fr.  dent  de  lion)  may  be  suspected 

26  . 


NAMES  OF  PLANTS  27 

of  being  mere  translations.  I  give  the  names  in  most 
general  use,  but  the  provincial  variants  are  numerous, 
though  usually  of  the  same  type.  The  French  names  of 
the  flowers  mentioned  are  still  more  like  the  English. 
The  more  learned  words  which  sometimes  replace  the 
above  are,  though  now  felt  as  mere  symbols,  of  similar 
origin,  e.g.,  geranium  and  pelargonium,  used  for  the 
cultivated  crane's  bill,  are  derived  from  the  Greek  for 
crane  and  stork  respectively.  So  also  in  chclidGuiunt, 
whence  our  celandine  or  szvalloiu-zvort,  we  have  the  Greek 
for  swallow. 

In  the  English  names  of  plants  we  observe  various 
tendencies  of  the  popular  imagination.  We  have  the 
crudeness  of  cowslip  for  earlier  cow  slop,  cow-dung,  and 
many  old  names  of  unquotable  coarseness,  the  quaint- 
ness  of  Sweet  William,  lords  and  ladies,  bachelors'  buttons, 
dead  men's  fingers,  and  the  exquisite  poetry  of /"^/'^e'/-;//^- 
not,  hearfs  ease,  love  in  a  mist,  travellet^s  joy.  There  is 
also  a  special  group  named  from  medicinal  properties, 
such  as  feverfew,  a  doublet  of  febrifuge,  tansy,  Fr. 
tanaisie,  from  Greco- Lat.  athanasia,  immortality.  We 
may  compare  the  learned  saxifrage,  stone-breaker,  of 
which  the  Spanish  doublet  is  sassafras.  The  German 
name  is  Steinbrech. 

There  must  have  been  a  time  when  a  simple 
instinct  for  poetry  was  possessed  by  all  nations,  as  it 
still  is  by  uncivilised  races  and  children.  Am.ong 
European  nations  this  instinct  appears  to  be  dead  for 
ever.  We  can  name  neither  a  mountain  nor  a  flower, 
Our  Mount  Costigan,  Mount  Perry,  Mount  William  cut 
a  sorry  figure  beside  the  peaks  of  the  Bernese  Oberland, 
the  Monk,  the  Maiden,  the  Storm  Pike,  the  Dark  Eagle 
Pike.  Occasionally  a  race  v/hich  is  accidentally  brought 
into  closer  contact  with  nature  may  have  a  happy 
inspiration,  such  as  the  Drakenberg  (dragon  mountain) 


28      WORDS  OF  POPULAR  MANUFACTURE 

or  Weenett  ^  (weeping)  of  the  old  vortrekkers.  But  the 
Cliff  of  the  Falling  Flowers,  the  name  of  a  precipice  over 
which  the  Korean  queens  cast  themselves  to  escape 
dishonour,  represents  an  imaginative  realm  which  is 
closed  to  us.-  The  botanist  who  describes  a  new  flower 
hastens  to  join  the  company  of  Messrs  Dahl,  Fzichs, 
Lobel^  Magnol  and  Wister^  while  fresh  varieties  are  used 
to  imm.ortalise  a  florist  and  his  family. 

The  names  of  fruits,  perhaps  because  they  lend 
themselves  less  easily  to  imaginative  treatment,  are  even 
duller  than  modern  names  of  flowers.  The  only  English 
names  are  the  apple  and  ^'t  berry.  New  fruits  either 
retained  their  foreign  names  {cherry,  peacJi^  p ear ^  q?imce) 
or  were  violently  converted  into  apples  or  berries, 
usually  the  former.  This  practice  is  common  to  the 
European  languages,  the  apple  being  regarded  as  the 
typical  fruit  Thus  the  orange  is  usually  called  in 
North  Germany  Apfelsine,  apple  of  China,  with  which 
we  may  compare  our  "  China  orange."  In  South 
Germany  it  was  called  Pomeranze  (now  used  especially 
of  the  Seville  orange),  from  Ital.  ponio,  apple,  arancia, 
orange.  Fr.  orange  is  folk-etymology  {or,  gold)  for 
^  a  range,  from  Arab.  7iarandj,  whence  Span,  naranja. 
Melon  is  simply  the  Greek  for  "apple,"  and  has  also 
given  us  viarvialade,  which  comes,  through  French,  from 
Port,  inannelada,  quince  jam,  a  derivative  of  Greco-Lat. 
mcliinehiin,  quince,  lit.  honey-apple.  Pine-apple  meant 
"  fir-cone"  as  late  as  the  17th  century,  as  Yx.poinme  de 
pin  still  does.  The  fruit  (Fr.  ananas^  was  named  from 
its  shape,  which  closely  resembles  that  of  a   fir-cone. 

^  A  place  where  a  large  number  of  settlers  with  their  wives  and  children 
wei  e  massacred  by  the  Zulus. 

"  "Two  mountains  near  Dublin,  which  we,  keeping  in  the  grocery  line, 
have  called  the  Great  and  the  Little  Sugarloaf,  are  named  in  Irish  the 
Golden  Spears." — (Trench,  On  the  Sludy  of  Words^ 


POMEGRANATE— CATERPILLAR  29 

Pomegranate  means  "  apple  with  seeds,"  We  also  find 
the  apricot,  lemon  {j)omcitro7i),  peach,  and  quince  all 
described  as  apples. 

At  least  one  fruit,  the  greejigagc^  is  named  from  a 
person,  Sir  William  Gage,  a  gentleman  of  Suffolk,  who 
popularised  its  cultivation  early  in  the  iSth  century. 
It  happens  that  the  French  name  of  the  fruit,  reiyie^ 
clatide  (pronounced  glaicde),  is  also  personal,  from  the 
wife  of  Francis  I. 

Animal  nomenclature  shows  some  strange  vagaries. 
The  resemblance  of  the  hippopotaviiis,  lit.  river-horse, 
to  the  horse,  hardly  extends  beyond  their  common 
possession  of  four  legs.  The  lion  v/ould  hardly  recognise 
himself  in  the  aiit-lioyi  or  the  sea-lioii^  still  less  in  the 
chameleon^  lit.  earth-lion,  the  first  element  of  which 
occurs  also  in  camomile^  earth-apple.  The  guinea-pig  is 
not  a  pig,  nor  does  it  come  from  Guinea  (see  p.  47). 
Porcupine  means  "spiny  pig."  It  has  an  extraordinary 
number  of  early  variants,  and  Shakespeare  wrote  \\.  por- 
pentine.  One  Mid.  English  form  was  porkpoint.  The 
French  name  has  hesitated  between  spine  and  spike.  The 
modern  form"  is  pore-epic,  but  Palsgrave  has  '^ porkepyn  a 
beest,  pore  espin^  Porpoise  is  from  Old  Fr.  porpeis,  for 
porcpeis  {1^2,t.porcus piscis\  pig-fish.  The  modern  French 
name  is  marsotiiii,  from  Ger.  Meerschwein,  sea-pig ;  cf. 
the  name  sea-hog,  formerly  used  in  English.  Old  Fr. 
peis  survives  also  in  grampus,  Anglo-Fr.  granipais  for 
grand peis,  big  fish,  but  the  usual  Old  French  word  is 
craspeis  or  graspeis,  fat  fish. 

The  caterpillar  seems  to  have  suggested  in  turn  a  cat 
and  a  dog.  Our  word  is  corrupted  by  folk-etymology 
from  Old  Fr.  chatepeleuse,  "  a  corne-devouring  mite,  or 
weevell "  (Cotgrave).  This  probably  means  "  woolly 
cat,"  just  as  a  common  species  is  popularly  called  woolly 
'  bear,  but  it  was  understood  as  being  connected  with  the 


30      WORDS  OF  POPULAR  MANUFACTURE 

French  verb peler,  "to////,  pare,  barke,  unrinde,  unskin" 
(Cotgrave).  The  modern  French  name  chenille  is  a 
derivative  oi  chien,  dog.  It  has  also  been  applied  to  a 
fabric  of  a  woolly  nature  ;  cf.  the  botanical  catkin^  which 
is  in  Fr.  chaton,  kitten. 

Some  animals  bear  nicknames.  Dotterel  means 
"  dotard,"  and  dodo  is  from  the  Port,  doudo,  mad.  Ferret 
is  from  Fr.  ftiret^  a  diminutive  from  Lat.  fiir^  thief. 
Shark  was  used  of  a  sharper  or  greedy  parasite  before 
it  was  applied  to  the  fish.  This,  in  the  records  of  the 
Elizabethan  voyagers,  is  more  often  called  by  its 
Spanish  name  iiburon^  whence  Cape  Tiburon,  in  Haiti. 
The  origin  of  shark  is  unknown,  but  it  appears  to  be 
identical  with  shirks  for  which  we  find  earlier  sherk. 
We  find  Ital.  scrocco  (whence  Fr.  escroc)^  Ger.  Schiirke^ 
Du.  schiirky  rascal,  all  rendered  "shark"  in  early 
dictionaries,  but  the  relationship  of  these  words  is  not 
clear.  Th^  palmer^  i.e.  pilgrim,  worm  is  so  called  from 
his  wandering  habits.  Ortolan  means  "gardener" 
(Lat.  hortus,  garden).  It  comes  to  us  through  French 
from  Ital.  ortolano^  "  a  gardener,  an  orchard  keeper.  Also 
a  kinde  of  daintie  birde  in  Italie,  some  take  it  to  be 
the  linnet"  (Florio).  We  may  compare  Fr.  bouvreuil^ 
bull-finch,  a  diminutive  of  bouvier,  ox-herd.  This  is 
called  in  German  Dompfaffe,  a  contemptuous  name  for 
a  cathedral  canon.  Fr.  vioineau^  sparrow,  is  a  diminu- 
tive of  vioine,  monk.  The  wagtail  is  called  in  French 
lavafidiere,  laundress,  from  the  up  and  down  motion 
of  its  tail  suggesting  the  washerwoman's  beetle,  and 
bergeronnette,  little  shepherdess,  from  its  habit  of  follow- 
ing the  sheep.  Adjutant,  the  nickname  of  the  solemn 
Indian  stork,  is  clearly  due  to  Mr  Atkins,  and  the 
secretary  bird  is  so  named  because  some  of  his  head 
feathers  suggest  a  quill  pen  behind  an  ear. 

The   converse  process  of  people   being  nicknamed 


SHREW— MEGRIMS  31 

from  animals  is  also  common  and  the  metaphor  is 
usually  pretty  obvious.  An  interesting  case  is  shrew^ 
a  libel  on  a  very  inoffensive  little  animal,  the  shrew- 
niousey  Anglo-Sax.  screawa.  Cooper  describes  inns 
arafieus  as  "  a  kinde  of  mise  called  a  shrew,  which  if  he 
go  over  a  beastes  backe  he  shall  be  lame  in  the  chyne ; 
if  he  byte  it  swelleth  to  the  heart  and  the  beast  dyeth." 
This  "information"  is  derived  from  Pliny,  but  the 
superstition  is  found  in  Greek.  The  epithet  was,  up  to 
Shakespeare's  time,  applied  indifferently  to  both  sexes. 
From  shrew  is  derived  shrewd,  earlier  shrewed,  the 
meaning  of  which  has  become  much  milder  than  when 
Henry  VHI.  said  to  Cranmer — 

"The  common  voice  I  see  is  verified 
Of  thee  which  says,  *  Do  my  lord  of  Canterbury 
A  shrewd  turn,  and  he's  your  friend  for  ever.'" 

{Henry  VIIL,  v.  2.) 

The  title  Dauphin,  lit.  dolphin,  commemorates  the- 
absorption  into  the  French  monarchy,  in  1349,  of  the 
lordship  of  Dauphine,  the  cognisance  of  which  was  three 
dolphins. 

The  application  of  animals*  names  to  diseases  is  a 
familiar  phenomenon,  e.g.,  ca7icer  (and  canker),  crab,  and 
hipiis,  wolf  To  this  class  belongs  imilligrubs,  for  which 
we  find  in  the  17th  century  also  moiildy  grubs.  Its 
oldest  meaning  is  stomach-ache,  still  given  in  Hotten's 
Slang  Dictionary  (1864).  Mnlly  is  still  used  in  dialect 
for  mouldy,  earthy,  and  grub  was  once  the  regular  word 
for  worm.  The  Latin  name  for  the  same  discomfort 
was  venninatio.  For  the  later  transition  of  meaning  we 
may  compare  viegrims,  from  Fr.  migraine,  head-ache, 
Greco-Lat.  hemicrania,  lit.  half  skull,  because  supposed 
to  affect  one  side  only  of  the  head. 

A  good  many  names  of  plants  and  animals  have  a 


V 


32      WORDS  OF  POPULAR  MANUFACTURE 

religious  origin.  Hollyhock  is  for  hofy  hock,  from  Anglo- 
Sax,  hoc,  mallow:  for  the  pronunciation  cf.  holiday. 
Halibut  means  holy  butt,  the  latter  word  being  an  old 
name  for  flat  fish ;  for  this  form  of  holy,  cf  Jialidom. 
Lady  in  names  of  flowers  such  as  lady's  bedstraiv,  lady's 
garter,  lady's  slipper,  is  for  Our  Lady.  So  also  in  lady- 
bird, called  in  French  bete  a  bon  Dieu  and  in  German 
Marienkdfer,  Mary's  beetle.  Here  may  be  mentioned 
samphire,  from  Old  Fr.  Jierbe  de  Saint  Pierre,  "  sampire, 
crestmarin"  (Cotgrave).  The  filbert,  02ix\\e.r:  phi  liber t,  is 
named  from  St  Philibert,  the  nut  being  ripe  by  St 
Philibert's  day  (22nd  Aug.).  We  may  compare  Ger. 
LambertsTiiiss,  filbert,  originally  "Lombard  nut,"  but 
popularly  associated  with  St  Lambert's  day  (17th  Sept.). 

The  application  of  baptismal  names  to  animals  is  a 
very  general  practice,  though  the  reason  for  the  selection 
of  the  particular  name  is  not  always  clear.  The  most 
famous  of  such  names  is  Renard  the  Fox.  The  Old 
French  for  fox  is  goupil,  a  derivative  of  Lat.  vulpes,  fox. 
The  hero  of  the  great  beast  epic  of  the  Middle  Ages  is 
Renard  le  goupil,  and  the  fact  that  renard  h^s,  now  com- 
pletely supplanted  ^^z//// shows  how  popular  the  Renard 
legends  must  have  been.  Renard  is  from  Old  High 
Ger.  regin-hart,  strong  in  counsel ;  cf.  our  names 
Reginald  and  Reynold,  and  Scot.  Ronald,  of  Norse  origin. 
From  the  same  source  come  Chantecler,  lit.  sing  clear, 
the  cock,  and  Partlet,  the  hen,  while  Bruin,  the  bear,  lit. 
"  brown,"  is  from  the  Dutch  version  of  the  epic.  In  the 
Low  German  version,  Reinke  de  Vos,  the  ape's  name  is 
Mo7ieke,  a  diminutive  corresponding  to  Ital.  monicchio, 
"  a  pugge,  a  munkie,  an  ape  "  (Florio),  the  earlier  history 
of  which  is  much  disputed.  The  cat  was  called  Tibert, 
whence  the  allusions  to  Tybalt's  nine  lives  in  Ronico 
and  Juliet  (iii.  i). 

The  fact  that  the  donkey  was  at  one  time  regularly 


NAVVIES  OF  BIRDS  33 

called  Ctiddy  made  Cuthbert  for  a  long  period  unpopular 
as  a  baptismal  name.  He  is  now  often  called  Neddy. 
The  hare  was  called  Wat  (  Walter)  in  Tudor  times.  In 
the  Roman  de  Renard  he  is  Couard^  whence  coward^  a 
derivative  of  Old  Fr.  cone  {queue) ^  tail,  from  Lat,  cauda. 
The  idea  is  that  of  the  tail  bet^veen  the  legs,  so  that  the 
name  is  etymologically  not  \^ry  appropriate  to  the 
hare.  Parrot^  for  earlier  perrot,  means  "  little  Peter." 
Fr.  pierrot  is  still  used  for  the  sparrovv^.  The  family 
name  Perrot  is  sometimes  a  nickname,  "the  chat- 
terer," but  can  also  mean  literally  "little  Peter,"  just 
as  Eitwiot  means  "little  Emma,"  and  Harriot  "little 
Mary."  The  extension  Poll  Parrot  is  thus  a  kind 
of  hermaphrodite.  Petrel  is  of  cognate  origin,  with 
an  allusion  to  St  Peter's  v/alking  upon  the  sea ;  cf. 
its  German  name,  Sankt  Peters  Vogel.  Sailors  call 
the  petrel  Mother  Carey's  chicken,  probably  a  nautical 
corruption  of  some  old  Spanish  or  Italian  name. 
-But  in  spite  of  ingenious  guesses,  this  lady's  genealogy 
remains  as  obscure  as  that  of  Davy  Jones  or  the  Jolly 
Roger. 

Robin  has  practically  replaced  red-breast.  The 
martin  is  in  French  Diartinet,  and  the  name  may  have 
been  given  in  allusion  to  the  southward  flight  of  this 
swallow  about  Martinmas ;  but  the  king-fisher,  not  a 
migrant  bird,  is  called  vtarti-n-pichezir^  formerly  also 
fnartinet  pechetir  or  oiseau  de  Saint-Martin^  so  that 
ftiartin  may  be  due  to  some  other  association.  Some- 
times the  double  name  survives.  We  no  longer  say 
Philip  sparroiVy  but  Jack  ass.  Jack  claw,  Jenny  wren, 
Tom  tit  (see  p.  113),  and  the  inclusive  Dicky  bird,  are  still 
familiar.  With  these  we  may  compare  Hob  {i.e.  Robert) 
goblin.  Madge  owlet,  or  simply  Madge,  was  once 
common.  For  Mag  pie  we  find  also  the  diminutive 
Maggot  pie.     Cotgrave  has  pie,  "  a  pye,  pyannat,  meg- 

C 


34      WORDS  OF  POPULAR  MANUFACTURE 

gatapie."  In  Old  French  it  was  also  called  jaquette^ 
*■  a  proper  name  for  a  woman ;  also,  a  piannat,  or 
megatapie." 

The  connection  of  this  word,  Fr./z>,  Lat.  J)zca,  with 
the  comestible //e  is  uncertain,  hut  it  seems  likely  that 
the  magpie's  habit  of  collecting  miscellaneous  trifles 
caused  its  name  to  be  given  to  a  dish  of  uncertain 
constituents.  It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that  the 
obsolete  c/iue^  or  cJiewet  meant  both  a  round  pie  and  a 
jackdaw.  It  is  uncertain  in  which  of  the  two  senses 
Prince  Hal  applies  the  name  to  Falstaff  (i  Henry  IV.y 
V.  i).  Fr.  ckouettBy  screech-owl,  formerly  meant  also  "a 
chough,  daw,  jack-daw  "  (Cotgrave). 

A  piebald  horse  is  one  balled  like  a  magpie. 
Ball  is  a  Celtic  word  for  a  white  mark,  especially  on 
the  forehead ;  hence  the  tavern  sign  of  the  Baldfaced 
Stag.     Our  adjective  bald  is  thus  a  past  participle. 

Things  are  often  named  from  animals.  Crane^  kite, 
donkey-engine,  7nonkey-wrench,  pig-iron,  etc.,  are  simple 
cases.  The  crane  picture  is  so  striking  that  we  are  not 
surprised  to  find  it  literally  reproduced  in  many  other 
languages.  For  kite  we  have  Fr.  cerf-vclant,  flying  stag, 
a  name  also  applied  to  the  stag-beetle,  and  Ger.  Drachen, 
dragon.  It  is  natural  that  terrifying  names  should 
have  been  given  to  early  fire-arms.  Many  of  these, 
e.g.,  basilisk,  serpe?it,  falconet,  saker  (from  Fr.  sacre,  a 
kind  of  hav/k),  are  obsolete.  More  familiar  is  cnl- 
verin,  Fr.  coiileiivrine,  a  derivative  of  couleiivre,  adder, 
Lat  coluber — 

"And  thou  hast  talked 
Of  sallies  and  retires,  of  trenches,  tents, 
Of  palisadoes,  frontiers,  parapets, 
Of  basilisks,  of  cannon,  ^f^Z-z/^^V/z." 

{I  Henry  IV.,   ii.  3.) 

One    name   for   a   handgun   was    dragon,   whence    our 


'[■X'-  --^/'-.'^  ■  MUSKET-^MAXIM    :0t:\''    ;>--35-^ 

'■dragoon,  originally  applied  to  a  kind  of  mounted  infantry 
^  or  carbineers.     Mtisket  was. the  name  of  a  small  hawk. 
Mistress  Ford  uses  it  playfully  to  her  page —  •      .; 

"  How  now,  my  eyas  ^-musket,  what  news  with  you  ?  " 

{Merry  WiveSy  iii.  3.) 

But  the  hawk  was  so  nicknamed  from*  its  small  size. 
Fr.  7nousquety  now  replaced  in  the  hawk  sense  by 
imouchet,  is  from  ItaL  7noschetto^  a  dim.inutive  from. 
Lat  ?nusca^  fly.  Thus  mosquito  (Spanish)  and  rmishei 
are  doublets. 

Porcelain  comes,  through  French,  from  \'i2\.porcella7ia^ 
"  a  kinde  of  fine  earth  called/^rr^/<^;^^,  whereof  they  make 
fine  china  dishes,  a^M^^ porcellan  dishes"  (Florio).  This 
is,  however,  a  transferred  meaning, /c^r^^//^;?^  being  the 
name  of  a  particularly  gloissy  shell  called  the  "  Venus 
shell."  It  is  a  derivative  jof  Lat.  porcus,  pig.  Easel 
comes,  with  many  other  painters'  terms,  from  Holland. 
It  is  Du.  ezel,  ass,  which,  like  Ger.  Esel,  comes  from 
Lat  asinus.  For  its  metaphorical  application  we  may 
compare  Fr.  chevalet,  easel,  lit.  "little  horse,"  and  Eng. 
"  clothes  horsed 

Objects  often  bear  the  names  of  individuals.  Such 
are  albert  chain,  broicgharn,  victoria,  Wellington  boot. 
Middle  aged  people  can  remember  ladies  wearing  a 
red  blouse  called  a  garibaldi?  Sometimes  an  inventor 
is  immortalised,  e.g.,  7nackintosh  and  shrapnel,  both 
due  to  19th-century  inventors.  The  more  recent 
maxi7n  is  named  from  one  who,  according  to  the 
late  Lord  Salisbury,  has  saved  many  of  his  fellow- 
men  from  dying  of  old  age.  Other  benefactors  are 
commemorated    in    derringer,   first    recorded    in   Bret 

*  For  eyas^  see  p.  105. 

'  To  the  same  period  belongs  the  colour  magenta^  from  the  victory  of 
the  French  over  the  Austrians  at  Magenta  in  1859. 


36     WORDS  OF  POPULAR  MANUFACTURE       7 

Harte,   and    bowie^  which   occurs   in    Dickens*   Ameri^ 

ca7i  Notes,     Sandwich   and  spencer  are  coupled   in   an 

old  rime —  '  '       '  rjl': 

I.  ■  ■ ' 

"Two  noble  earls,  v/hom,  if  I  quote, 
Some  folks  might  call  me  sinner  ; 
The  one  invented  }ialf  a  coat, 
The  other  half  a  dinner." 

An  Earl  Spencer  (i 782-1 845)  made  a  short  overcoat 
fashionable  for  some  time.  An  Earl  of  Sandwich 
( 1 718-1792)  invented  a  form  of  light  refreshment  which 
enabled  him  to  take  a  meal  v/ithout  leaving  the  gaming 
table.  It  does  not  appear  that  Billy  Cock  is  to  be 
classed  with  the  above,  or  with  Ckesterfield,  Chippendale 
&  Co.  The  New  English  Dictionary  quotes  (from  1721) 
a  description  of  the  Oxford  V  blood  "  in  his  "  hdly-cocked 
hat,'*  worn  aggressively"  on  one  side.  Pinchbeck  was  a 
London  watchmaker  {fl-.  c.  1700),  and  doily  is  from 
Day  ley ^  a  linen-draper  of  the  same  period.  Etienne  de 
Silhotiette\vd.s  French  finance  minister  in  1759,  but 
the  application  of  his  name  to  a  black  profile  portrait 
is  variously  explained.  Negits  was  first  brewed  in 
Queen  Anne's  reign  by  Colonel  Francis  Negus. 

The  first  orrery  was  constructed  by  the  Earl  of 
Orrery  {c.  1700).  Galvani  and  Volta  were  Italian 
scientists  of  the  l8th  century.  Mes??ier  \YdiS  a  German 
physician  of  the  same  period.  Nicotine  is .  named  from 
Jean  Nicot,  French  ambassador  at  Lisbon,  who  sent 
some  tobacco  plants  to  Catherine  de  M^dicis  in  1560. 
He  also  compiled  the  first  Old  French  dictionary.  The 
gallows-shaped  contrivance  called  a  derrick  perpetuates 
the  name  of  a  famous  hangman  who  officiated  in 
London  about  1600.  It  is  a  Dutch  name,  identical 
\wh\i^  Dietrich,  Theodoric,  and  Dirk  (Hatteraick).  Con- 
versely   the   Fr.  potence,   gallows,   meant    originally   a 


VERBS  FRO?vI  NAZVIES  37 

bracket  or  support,  Lat.  poteniia^  power.     The   origin 
of  darbies^  handcuffs,  is  unknown,  but  the  line — 

"To  bind  such  babes  in  father  Derbies  bands," 

(Gascoigxe,  The  Sieel  GlasSy  1576.) 

suggests  connection  with  some  eminent  gaoler  or  thief- 
taker. 

Occasionally  a  verb  is  formed  from  a  proper  name. 
On  the  model  of  tantalise,  from  the  punishment  of 
Tantalus,  we  have,  bowdlcrise^  from  Bawdier,  who 
published  an  expurgated  "  family  Shakespeare "  in 
1818;  cf  viacadamise.  Burke  and  bcryco tt  commQmora.te 
a  scoundrel  and  a  victim.  The  latter  word,  from  the 
treatment  of  Captain  Boycott  cf  Co.  Mayo  in  1880, 
seems  to  have  supplied  a  want,  for  Fr.  boycotter  and 
Ger.  boycottieren  are  already  e very-day  words.  Burke 
was  hanged  at  Edinburgh  in  1S29  for  murdering 
people  by  suffocation  in  order  to  dispose  of  their 
bodies  to  medical  schools.  We  now  use  the  verb  only 
of  "stifling"  discussion,  but  in  the  Ingoldsby  Legends 
it  still  has  the  original  sense — 

"But,  when  beat  on  his  knees, 

That  confounded  De  "Guise 

Came  behind  with  the  'fogle'  that  caused  all  this  breeze, 

Whipp'd  it  tight  round  his  neck.  and.  v/hen  backward  hed  jerk'd 

him, 
The  rest  of  the  rascals  jump'd  on  him  and  BurJ^dYixiar 

{The  Tragedy.") 

Jaruey,  the  slang  name  for  a  coachman,  was  in  the 
1 8th  cQntury  J erois  ox  Jaruis,  but  history  is  silent  as  to 
this  English  Jc/m.  A  pasquinade  was  originally  an 
anonymous  lampoon  affixed  to  a  statue  of  a  gladiator 
which  still  stands  in  Rom.e.  The  statue  is  said  to 
have  been  nicknamed  from  a  scandal-loving  cobbler 
named   Pasquino.     Florio   has  pasquino^  "a   statue    in 

C  2 


38     WORDS  OF  POPULAR  MANUFACTURE 

Rome  on  whom  all  libels,  railings,  detractions,  and 
satirical  invectives  are  fathered."  Pamphlet  is  an 
extended  use  of  Old  Fr.  Parnpkilet^  the  name  of  a 
Latin  poem  by  one  Patnphihis  which  was  popular  in 
the  Middle  Ages.  The  suffix  -et  was  often  used  in  this 
way,  e.g.,  the  translation  of  ^sop's  fables  by  Marie  de 
France  was  called  Ysopet^  and  Cato's  moral  maxims  had 
the  title  Catonet^  or  Parvus  Cato.  Modern  Yt.pa7nphlet^ 
borrowed  back  from  English,  has  always  the  sense  of 
polemical  writing.  In  Eng.  libel,  lit.  "little  book,"  we 
see  a  converse  development  of  meaning.  A  three- 
quarter  portrait  of  fixed  dimensions  is  called  a  kitcat — 

*'•  It  is  not  easy  to  see  why  he  should  have  chosen  to  produce  a 
replica,  or  rather  a  kitcat."     {Journal  of  Education,  Oct.  191 1.) 

The  name  comes  from  the  portraits  of  members 
of  the  Kitcat  Club,  painted  by  Kneller.  Kit  Kat, 
Christopher  Kat,  was  a  pastrycook  at  whose  shop  the 
club  used  to  dine. 

Implements  and  domestic  objects  sometimes  bear 
christian  names.  We  may  mention  spinmng-jenny,  and 
the  innumerable  meanings  of  jack.  Davit,  earlier 
davioty  is  a  diminutive  of  David.  Fr.  davier,  formerly 
daviet,  is  used  of  several  mechanical  contrivances, 
including  a  pick-lock.  A  kind  of  davit  is  called  in 
Ger.  Jilite,  a  diminutive  of  Judith.  The  implement 
by  which  the  burglar  earns  his  daily  bread  is  now 
called  7}L  jemmy,  but  in  the  17th  century  we  also  find 
bess  and  betty.  The  French  name  is  rossignol,  nightin- 
gale. The  Germ.an  burglar  calls  it  Dietrich,  Peterchen, 
or  Klaus,  and  the  contracted  forms  of  the  first  name, 
dyrk  and  dirk,  have  passed  into  Swedish  and  Danish 
with  the  same  meaning.  In  Italian  a  pick-lock  is  called 
grimaldello,  a  diminutive  of  the  name  Grimaldo. 

A     kitchen    wench     was     once    called     a     malkin 


GRIMALKIN— JUG  39 

{Corwla?22iSj  n.  i).  This  is  a  diminutive  of  Matilda  or 
Mary,  possibly  of  both.  Grinialkiti^  applied  to  a  fiend 
in  the  shape  of  a  cat,  is  for  gray  ninlkin — 

"I  come,  Graymalkiny    {Macbeth^  \.  i.) 

Malkin  was  also  the  regular  name  for  a  mop.  Cotgrave 
has  escouillo7i  {ecoiroillofi)^  "  a  wispe,  or  dish-clowt ;  a 
viankin^  or  drag,  to  cleanse,  or  sweepe  an  oven." 
Ecotivillon  is  a  derivative  of  Lat.  scopa^  broom.  Now 
another  French  word  which  means  both  "  kitchen 
servant"  and  "dish-clout"  is  soiiillon^  from  soiiiller^  to 
soil.  What  share  each  of  these  words,  the  sense 
development  of  which  has  been  the  converse  of  that 
of  7nalkin^  has  in  Eng.  sctdlion  is  hard  to  say.  The  only 
thing  certain  is  that  scullion  is  not  related  to  scullery^ 
Old  Fr.  escuelene,  a  collective  from  Old  Fr.  esaielle 
(Jcuelle),  dish,  from  Lat  scutella. 

A  doll  was  formerly  called  a  baby  or  puppet.  It  is 
the  abbreviation  of  Dorothy,  for  we  find  it  called  a 
doroty  in  Scottish.  We  may  compare  Fr.  viarionnette,  a 
double  diminutive  of  Mary,  explained  by  Cotgrave  as 
"little  Marian  or  Mai;  also,  a  puppet."  Little  Mary,  in 
another  sense,  has  been  recently,  but  perhaps  definitely, 
adopted  into  our  language.  Another  old  name  for 
doll  is  rnammet.  Capulet  uses  it  contemptuously  to  his 
daughter — 

"And  then  to  have  a  wretched  puling  fool, 
A  whining  77iam7net,  in  her  fortune's  tender, 
To  answer  :  '  I'll  not  wed,' — '  I  cannot  love.' " 

{Romeo  and  Juliet,  iii.  5.) 

Its  earlier  form  is  maumet,  meaning  "  idol,"  and  it  is  a 
contraction  of  Mahomet. 

The  derivation  oijiigxs  not  capable  of  proof,  but  a 
17th-century  etymologist  regards  it  as  identical  with  the 


40     WORDS  OF  POPULAR  MANUFACTURE 

female  iiame/?/^/  for  Joan  or  Jane.  This  is  supported 
hy  jack  used  in  a  similar  sense,  and  by  toby  jug  and  demi- 
john. The  latter  word  is  in  French  daine-jearme^  but 
both  forms  are  probably  due  to  folk-etymology.  A  coat 
of  mail  was  called  in  English  a  jack  and  in  French 
jaqtie,  "  2.  jack ^  or  coat  of  maile  "  (Cotgrave)  ;  hence  the 
diminutive  7*^r/l^^/.  The  German  miners  gave  to  an  ore 
which  they  considered  useless  the  name  kobalt^  from 
kobold^  a  goblin,  gnome.  This  has  given  Eng.  cobalt. 
Much  later  is  the  similarly  formed  nickel^  a  dim.inutive 
of  Nicholas.  It  comes  to  us  from  Sweden,  but  appears 
earliest  in  the  German  compound  Kttpfernickel.  Appar- 
ently nickel  here  means  something  like  goblin ;  cf  Old 
Nick  and,  probably,  the  dickens — 

"  I  cannot  tell  what  the  dickens  his  name  is  my  husband  had 
him  of. — What  do  you  call  your  knight's  name,  sirrah?" 

{Merry  Wives,  iii.  2.) 

Pantaloons  come,  via  France,  from  Venice.  A  great 
many  Venetians  bore  the  name  of  Pantaleoney  one  of 
their  favourite  saints.  Hence  the  application  of  the 
name  to  the  characteristic  Venetian  hose.  The  "  lean 
and  slippered  pantaloon  "  was  originally  one  of  the  stock 
characters  of  the  old  I  talian  comedy.  Torriano  ( 1 65  9)  has 
pantalone,  "  a  pantalone,  a  covetous  and  yet  amorous  old 
dotard,  properly  applyed  in  comedies  unto  a  Venetian." 
Knickerbockers  take  their  name  from  Diedrich  Knicker- 
bocker, the  pseudonym  under  which  Washington  Irving 
wrote  his  Histoi-y  of  Old  New  York,  in  which  the  early 
Dutch  inhabitants  are  depicted  in  loose  knee-breeches. 

Certain   christian   names  are    curiously   associated 
with   stupidity.     In    modern    English   we   speak   of    a 

1  For  extraordinary  perversions  of  baptismal  names  see  Chap.  XII.  It  is 
possible  that  the  rather  uncommon  family  name  Juggins  is  of  the  same 
origin. 


NINNY— JACKANAPES  41 

silly  Johmiy^  while  the  Germans  say  eiri  dumvier  Peter 
and  French  uses  Colas  {Nicolas),  Nicodeme  and  Claude, 
the  reason  for  the  selection  of  the  name  not  always 
being  clear.  English  has,  or  had,  in  the  sense  of  "  fool," 
the  words  ninny,  nickznn,  noddy,  zany.  Nin7iy  is  for 
Innoce7it,  "  Innocent,  Ninny,  a  proper  name  for  a  man  " 
(Cotgrave).  With  this  we  may  compare  French  hc7iH 
{i.e.  Benedict), "a  simple,  plaine, doltish  fellow;  a  noddy 
peake,  a  ninny  hammer,  a  peagoose,  a  coxe,  a  silly 
companion"  (Cotgrave).  Nichuni  and  7ioddy  are  pro- 
bably for  Nicodemus  or  Nicholas,  both  of  which  are 
used  in  French  for  a  fool.  The  reader  will  remember 
that  Noddy  Boffin  was  christened  Nicodemus.  Noddy- 
peak,  nin7iy-ha7}inier,  nicktnnpoop,  now  nincompoop,  seem 
to  be  arbitrary  elaborations.  Zayiy,  formerly  a  con- 
juror's assistant,  is  zanni,  an  Italian  diminutive  of 
Giovafini,  John.  With  the  degeneration  of  Irmocent 
and  Benedict  we  may  compare  Fr.  creti7i,  idiot,  an 
Alpine  patois  form  of  c/urtien.  Christian,  and  Eng.  silly, 
which  once  meant  blessed,  a  sense  preserved  by  its 
German  cognate  selig.  Diince  \s,  a  libel  on  the  disciples 
of  the  great  medieval  schoolman  John  Duns  Scotus, 
born  at  Dunse  in  Berwickshire. 

Dago,  now  usually  applied  to  Itah'ans,  was  used  by 
the  Elizabethans,  in  its  original  form  Diego,  of  the 
Spaniards.  The  derivation  of  guy  and  bobby  (peeler)  is 
well  known.  Jockey  is  a  diminutive  of  the  north 
country  Jock,  for  Jack.  The  history  of  jacka7iapes  is 
obscure.  The  earliest  record  of  the  name  is  in  a 
satirical  song  on  the  unpopular  William  de  la  Pole, 
Duke  of  Suffolk,  who  was  beheaded  at  sea  in  1450. 
He  is  called  Jack  Napes,  the  allusion  being  apparently 
to  his  badge,  an  ape's  clog  and  chain.  But  there  also 
seems  to  be  association  with  Naples  ;  c{.  fustia?i-anapes 
for  Naples  fustian.     A  poem  of  the  15th  century  tells 


42     WORDS  OF  POPULAR  MANUFACTURE 

us  that  from  Italy  came  "  apes  and  japes  and  marmus- 
ettes  tayled/'  Dandy  is  Scottish  for  Andrew;  cf. 
Dandie  Dinmo7it. 

Jilt  was  once  a  stronger  epithet  than  at  present.  It 
I's  for  earlier  jillet^  which  is  a  diminutive  of  ////,  the 
companion  of  Jack.  Jill,  again,  is  short  for  Gillian^  i.e. 
Juliana,  so  that  jilt  is  a  doublet  of  Shakespeare's 
sweetest  heroine.  Termagojit,  like  shrew  (p.  31),  was 
formerly  used  of  both  sexes.  In  its  oldest  sense  of 
a  Saracen  god  it  regularly  occurs  with  Mahotmd 
(Mahomet) — 

"  Marsilies  fait  porter  un  Hvre  avant : 
La  lei  i  fut  Mahum  e  Tervagan." '^ 

{Chanson  de  Roland^  11.  610- 11.) 

Ariosto  has  Trivigante.  Being  introduced  into  the 
medieval  drama,  the  name  became  synonymous  with  a 
stage  fury^ — 

*'  I  would  have  such  a  fellow  whipped  for  o'erdoing  Ter??taganfy 

{Hamtetf  iii.  2.) 

F'alstaff  calls  Douglas  "that  hot  termagant  Scot" 
(i  Heyiry  IV.,  v.  4).  The  origin  of  the  word  is  un- 
known, but  its  sense  development  is  strangely  different 
from  that  of  Mahomet  (p.  39). 

^  "  Marsil   has   a  book  brought  fonvard :   the   law  of  Mahomet  and 
Termacrant  was  in  it." 


CHAPTER    IV 

WORDS  AND   PLACES 

A  VERY  large  number  of  wares  are  named  from  the 
places  from  which  they  come.  This  is  especially 
common  in  the  case  of  woven  fabrics,  and  the  origin 
is  often  obvious,  ^.^.^  arras,  casJunere  (by  folk-etymology, 
kerseymere)  damask,  holland.  The  following  are  perhaps 
not  all  so  evident— /ri'ese  from  Fries/and;'^  fiistia7i.  Old 
Fr.  fustaine  {fiitaine),  from  F us  tat,  a  suburb  of  Cairo; 
7mtslin,  Fr.  moussclzne,  from  Mosul  in  Kurdistan  ;  shalloon 
from  Chdlons-sur-^ldirne  ;  laivn  from  Laon  \jean,  formerly 
jane, ^r ova  Genoa  (French  Genes  -) ;  ca^nbrzc  from  Kamerijk, 
the  Dutch  name  of  Cambrai  {cf.  the  obsolete  dornick, 
from  the  Dutch  name  of  Tour?my) ;  tartan  from  the 
Tartars  (properly  Tatars^,  used  vaguely  for  Orientals ; 
sarcenet  from  the  Saracens  ;  sendal,  ultimately  from  India 
{cf.  Greco-Lat.  sindon,  Indian  cloth);  tabby.  Old  Fr. 
atabis,  from  the  name  of  a  suburb  of  Bagdad,  now 
chiefly  used  of  a  cat  marked  something  like  the 
material  in  question. 

'  Whence  also  cheval  de  /rise,  a  contrivance  used  by  the  Frieslanders 
against  cavaky.  The  German  name  is  die  spanischen  Reitsr^  explained  by 
Ludwig  as  "a  bar  ^Yith  iron-spikes  ;  cheval  di  /rise,  a  warlick  instrument, 
to  keep  off  the  horse." 

-  The  form  jea)ts  appears  to  be  usual  in  America,  e.g.,  '*  His  hands  were 
thrust  carelessly  into  the  side  pockets  of  a  gray  jeans  coat."     (Meredith 
Nicholson,  War  of  the  Carolmas,  Ch.  15.) 
43 


44  WORDS  AND  PLACES 

Brittany  used  to  be  famous  for  hempen  fabrics,  and 
the  villages  of  Locrenan  and  Daoulas  gave  their  names 
to  lockrav/i  {Coriolamis^  ii.  i)  and  dowlas — 

Hostess.  You  owe  me  money,  Sir  John  ;  and  now  you  pick  a 
quarrel  to  beguile  me  of  it :  I  bought  you  a  dozen  of  shirts  to  your 
back. 

Falstaff.  Dowlas^  filthy  dowlas ;  I  have  given  them  away  to 
bakers'  wives,  and  they  have  m.ade  bolters  of  them. 

(i  Henry  IV.y  iii.  3.) 

Dttffel  is  a  place  near  Antwerp — 

"  And  let  it  be  of  duffd  gray,  ^ 

As  warm  a  cloak  as  man  can  sell." 

(Wordsworth,  Alice  Fell.) 

and  Worstead  is  in  Norfolk.  Of  other  commodities 
majolica  comes  from  Majorca^  called  in  Spanish  Mallorca^ 
and  in  medieval  Latin  Majolica  \  bronze  from  Bricn- 
dusiian  (Brlndisi),  delf  from  Delft^  the  magnet  from 
Magnesia^  the  shallot^  Fr.  cchalotte,  in  Old  French  also 
escalogne^  whence  archaic  Eng.  scallioUy  from  Ascalon ; 
the  sardine  from  Sardinia.  A  milliner^  formerly  inilaner^ 
dealt  in  goods  from  Milan.  Cravat  dates  from  the 
Thirty  Years'  War,  in  which  the  Croats^  earlier  Cravats^ 
played  a  part.  Ermine  is  in  medieval  Latin  mns 
Armenius,  Armenian  mouse,  but  comes,  through  Fr. 
hermine^  from  Old  High  Ger.  liarmo^  weasel.  Buncombe^ 
more  usually  bunknm^  is  the  name  of  a  county  in 
North  Carolina.  To  make  a  speech  "for  Buncombe" 
means,  in  American  politics,  to  show  your  constituents 
that  you  are  doing  your  best  for  your  ;;f400  a  year  or 
its  American  equivalent.  Cf.  Billingsgate  and  Liniehoicse. 
The  adjective  j^r^f^  was  formerly /r/^/:^  and  meant 
Prussia.  Todd  quotes  from  Holinshed,  "Sir  Edward 
Howard  then  admirall,  and  with  him  Sir  Thomas  Parre 
in   doubletts   of  crimsin  velvett,  etc.,  were    apparelled 


BEZANT-^MAZURKA  45 

after  the  fashion  of  Prussia  or  Spruced'  Of  similar 
origin  are  spruce-leather,  spruce-beer^  and  the  spruce-fir, 
of  which  Evelyn  says,  "Those  from  Prussia  (which  we 
call  spruce^  and  Norway  are  the  best." 

Among  coins  the  bezant  comes  from  Byza7itiuvi,  the 
florin  from  Florence,  and  Shylock's  ducat,  chiefly  a 
Venetian  coin,  from  the  ducato  d'Apuglia,  the  Duchy 
of  Apulia,  where  it  was  first  coined  in  the  12th  century. 
The  dollar  is  the  Low  Ger.  dalcr,  for  Ger.  Taler, 
originally  called  2,  Joachimstaler,  from  the  silver-mJne  of 
Joachimstal,  Joachim's  dale,  in  Bohemia.  Cotgrave 
registers  a  curious  Old  French  perversion y<7r^//<frt/t',  "a 
'daller,  a  piece  of  money  worth  about  3s.  sterL"  Some 
fruits  may  also  be  mentioned,  e.g.,  the  claniso?i  from 
Damascus,  through  Old  Fr.  dajnazsine,  "a  damascene  or 
damsen  plum"  (Cotgrave);  \.h.Q  curra?it  {rorxi  Corinth,  2ix\d 
t\iQ  peach,  ¥r,peche,  from  Vulgar  lu^t,  pessica,  for  Persica. 

A  polony  was  originally  a  Bolonian  sausage,  from 
Bologna.  ParcJmient,  Fr.  parchemin,  is  the  adjective 
pergavienus,  from  Perga7nus,  in  Asia  Minor.  Spaniel 
is  the  Old  Fr.  espagneul  {/pagneul),  lit.  Spanish.  We 
have  the  adjective  Moo7'ish  in  morris  pike — 

"  He  that  sets  up  his  rest  to  do  more  exploits  with  his  mace 
l\i2in  ?i  ?norris pike."     {Cojnedy  of  Errors,  \\.  2>') 

In  morris  da?ice,  Fr.  dafise  matiresqtie,  the  same  adjective 
is  used  with  something  of  the  vagueness  to  be  noticed 
in  connection  with  India  and  Turkey  (p.  47).  Shake- 
speare uses  the  Spanish  form — 

"  I  have  seen  him 
Caper  upright,  like  to  a  wild  morisco. 
Shaking  the  bloody  darts  as  he  his  bells." 

(2  Henry  VI.,  iii.  i.) 

Other  "  local "  dances  are  the  polka,  which  means 
"  Polish  woman  "  ;  mazjirka^  woman    of  Massovia ;  and 


46  WORDS  AND  PLACES 

the  obsolete  polojiaise^  cracovienne^  from  Cracow,  and 
varsovienne^  from  Warsaw.  The  V(^r«;^/^//<a;,  like  the 
tarantula  spider,  takes  its  name  from  Taranto,  in  Italy, 
Lat.  Tarentu7n.  There  is  said  to  be  some  pathological 
connection  between  the  spider  and  the  dance,  e.g., 
Florio  has  tarantola,  "a  serpent  called  an  eft  or  an 
evet.  Some  take  it  to  be  a  flye  whose  sting  is  perillous 
and  deadly,  and  nothing  but  divers  sounds  of  musicke 
can  cure  the  patient." 

The  town  of  Troyes  has  given  its  name  to  troy 
weight.  The  armourers  of  Bilbao,  in  Spain,  made 
swords  of  such  perfect  temper  that  they  could  be 
bent  point  to  hilt.  Hence  Falstaff  describes  himself 
in  the  buck-basket  as — 

"  Compassed,  like  a  good  bilbo^  in  the  circumference  of  a  peck, 
hilt  to  point,  heel  to  head."     {Merry  Wives,  iii.  5.) 

The  Andrea  Ferrara,  or  Scottish  broadsword,  carried 
by  Fergus  MTvor,  bears,  according  to  some  authorities, 
the  name  of  an  armourer  of  Ferrara,  in  Italy.  Accord- 
ing to  others,  Andi-ea  Ferrara  was  a  swordmaker  at 
Beiluno.  I  have  heard  it  affirmed  by  a  Scottish  drill- 
sergeant  that  this  genius,  whose  real  name  was  Andrew 
Ferrars,  belonged  to  the  same  nationality  as  other 
great  men. 

An  argosy,  formerly  also  ragusye,  was  named  from 
the  Adriatic  port  of  Ragusa,  and  a  lateen  sail  is  a  Latin, 
i.e.  Mediterranean,  sail;  gamboge  is,  the  Fr.  Cambotge, 
Cambodia,  and  indigo  is  from  Span,  indico,  Indian. 
Of  wines,  7nalmsey,  chiefly  remembered  in  connection 
with  George  of  Clarence,  and  malvoisie  are  doublets, 
from  Monernvasia  in  the  Morea.  Port  is  named  from 
Oporto,  i.e.  0  porto,  the  harbour  (cf  le  Havre),  and  sherry 
(see  p.  107)  from  Xeres,  Lat.  Ccesaris  (urbs) ;  cf.  Sara- 
gossa,  from  Ccvsarea  AtLgtista. 


BRAZIL  WOOD— TURKEY  47 

But  it  is  possible  to  be  mistaken  in  connecting 
countries  with  products.  Brazil  wood  is  not  named 
from  the  country,  but  vice  versa.  It  was  known  as 
a  dye-wood  as  early  as  the  I2th  century,  and  the  name 
is  found  in  many  of  the  European  languages.  The 
Portuguese  navigators  found  large  quantities  of  it  in 
South  America  and  named  the  country  accordingly. 
They  christened  an  island  Madeira^  timber,  Lat.  materia^ 
for  a  similar  reason.  The  canary  com.es  from  the 
Canary  Islands,  but  its  name  is  good  Latin.  The 
largest  of  these  islands,  Canaria,  was  so  called  by  the 
Romans  from  the  dogs  found  there.  The  guinea~io\Y\ 
and  g7ci?tea  gold  cam^e  first  from  the  west  coast  of 
Africa,  but  the  guinea-pig  is  a  native  of  Brazil.  The 
name  probably  came  from  the  Guinea-men,  or  slave- 
ships,  which  regularly  followed  a  triangular  course. 
They  sailed  outward  to  the  west  coast  of  Africa  with 
English  goods.  These  they  exchanged  for  slaves,  whom 
they  transported  to  the  West  Indies,  the  horrible 
"middle  passage,"  and  finally  they  sailed  homeward 
with  New  World  produce,  including,  no  doubt,  ^/^/;/^^- 
pigs  brought  home  by  sailors.  The  turkey  is  also 
called  guinea-fowl  in  the  17th  century,  probably  to  be 
explained  in  the  same  way.  The  German  name  for 
guinea-pig,  MeerscJnveinclien^  seems  to  mean  little  pig 
from  over  the  sea. 

Guinea  was  a  vague  geographical  expression  in  the 
17th  century,  but  not  so  vague  as  India  or  Turkey. 
Indian  ink  comes  from  China  (Fr.  encre  de  Chine),  and 
Indian  corn  from  America.  The  names  given  to  the 
turkey  are  extraordinary.  We  are  not  surprised  that, 
as  an  American  bird,  it  should  be  naturally  connected 
with  India;  cf.  West  Indies,  Red  Indian,  etc.  Ttii-k 
was  in  the  i6th  and  17th  centuries  a  vague  term  for 
non-Christians,  "Jews,  Turks,   infidels,  and  hereticks" 


48  WORDS  AND  PLACES 

(Collect  for  Good  Friday),  and  we  find  also  Tti7'key 
wheat  for  maize.  The  following  names  for  the  turkey, 
given  in  a  No^nenclator  in  eight  languages,  published 
in  Germany  in  1602,  do  not  exhaust  the  list: — 

German.  —  Indicmisch     oder      Kalekiittisch  ^      oder 
Wclsch"-   Hun. 

Dutch. — Calcoensche  oft  Ttirckische  Henne. 

French. — Geline  ou  poulle  ^hide^  ou  ^ Africque. 

Italian. — Gallina  d'India. 

Spanish. — Pavon  (peacock)  de  las  Indias. 

English.— Cok  off  Inde !  • 
No  doubt  the  turkey  was  confused  with  other  birds,  for 
we  find  Yx.  geline  d'Inde  before  the  discovery  of  America. 
Uhide  has   become   dinde^  whence    a   new  masculine 
di'ridojt  has  been  formed. 

The  early  etymologists  were  fond  of  identifying 
foreign  wares  with  place-names.  They  connected  diaper 
with  Ypres,  gingham  with  Guingamp  (in  Brittany), 
drugget  with  Drogheda,  and  the  sedan  chair  with  Sedan. 
Such  guesses  are  almost  always  wrong.  The  origin  of 
diaper  is  doubtful,  that  of  drugget  quite  unknown,  and 
gingham  is  Malay.  As  far  as  we  know  at  present,  the 
sedan  came  from  Italy  in  the  i6th  century,  and  it  is 
there,  among  derivatives  of  Lat.  sedere^  to  sit,  that  its 
origin  must  be  sought,  unless  indeed  the  original  Sedan 
was  some  mute,  inglorious  liansom. 

^  Calicut,  not  Calcutta.  "  See  walnut  (p.  140). 


CHAPTER   V 

PHONETIC  ACCIDENTS 

The  history  of  a  word  has  to  be  studied  from  the 
double  point  of  view  of  sound  and  sense,  or,  to  use  more 
technical  terms,  phonetics  and  semantics.  In  the 
logical  order  of  things  it  seems  natural  to  deal  first  with 
the  less  interesting  aspect,  phonetics,  the  physical 
processes  by  which  sounds  are  gradually  transformed. 
Speaking  generally,  it  may  be  said  that  phonetic 
changes  are  governed  by  the  law  of  least  re5istance,(a 
sound  which  presents  difficulty  being  gradually  and 
unconsciously  modified  by  a  whole  community  or  race) 
With  the  general  principles  of  phonetics  I  do  not  propose 
to  deal,  but  a  few  simple  examples  will  serve  to  illus- 
trate the  great  general  law  on  which  this  science  is  based. 
The  population  of  this  country  is  educationally 
divided  by  the  letter  h  into  three  classes,  which  we 
may  describe  as  the  confident,  the  anxious,  and  the 
indifferent.  The  same  division  existed  in  imperial 
Rome,  where  educated  people  sounded  the  aspirate, 
which  completely  disappeared  from  the  everyday 
language  of  the  lower  classes,  the  so-called  Vulgar  Latin 
from  which  the  Romance  languages  are  descended, 
so  far  as  their  working  vocabulary  is  concerned.  The 
anxious  class  was  also  represented.  A  Latin  epigram- 
*'  D 


60  PHONETIC  ACCIDENTS 

matist  ^  remarks  that  since  Arrius,  prophetic  name,  has 
visited  the  Ionic  islands,  they  will  probably  be  hence- 
forth known  as  the  Hionic  islands.  To  the  disappear- 
ance of  the  h  from  Vulgar  Latin  is  due  the  fact  that 
the  Romance  languages  have  no  aspirate.  French  still 
writes  the  initial  h  in  some  words  by  etymological 
reaction,  e.g.,  homme  for  Old  Fr.  07?iey  and  also  at  one 
time  really  had  an  aspirate  in  the  case  of  words  of 
Germanic  origin,  e.g.,  la  honfe^  shame.  But  this  //  is  no 
longer  sounded,  although  it  still,  by  tradition,  prevents 
elision  and  liaison^  mistakes  in  which  are  regarded  much 
in  the  same  way  as  a  misplaced  aspirate  in  English. 
The  "educated"  Ji  of  modern  English  is  largely  an 
artificial  restoration ;  cf.  the  modern  /^^/^.'/-keeper  with 
the  older  word  ostler  (see  p.  152),  or  the  family  name 
ArDLitage  with  the  restored  hcnnitage. 

We  have  dropped  the  k  sound  in  initial  hi^  as  in 
kfzave,  still  sounded  in  German  K?iahe,  boy.  French  gets 
over  the  difficulty  by  inserting  a  vowel  between  the  two 
consonants,  e.g.,  canif  is  a  Germanic  word  cognate  with 
Eng.  knife.  This  is  a  common  device  in  French  when  a 
word  of  Germanic  origin  begins  with  two  consonants. 
Cf.  Fr.  dh'ive^  drift,  Eng.  drive ;  Fr.  varech,  sea-weed, 
Eng.  wrack.  Harangue^  formerly  karengue,  is  Old  High 
Ger.  kring,  Eng.  ri?ig,  the  allusion  being  to  the  circle 
formed  by  the  audience.  Fr.  ckenapan^  rogue,  is  Ger. 
Scliriappkakn,  robber,  lit.  fowl-stealer.  The  shallop  that 
"  flitteth  silken-sail'd,  skimming  down  to  Camelot,"  is 
Fr.  ckaloupe^  from  Du.  sloep,  sloop. 

The  general  dislike  that  French  has  for   a  double 

^  "Nee  sibi  postilla  metuebant  talia  verba, 
Cum  subito  adfertur  nuntius  horribilis, 
lonios  fluctus,  postquam  illuc  Arrius  isset, 
lam  non  lonios  esse,  sed  Hiomos.*' 

{Catullus,  84.) 


ASSIMILATION  51 

consonant  sound  at  the  beginning  of  a  word  appears  also 
"in  the  .transformation  of  all  Latin  words  which  began 
with  sc^  sp,  sty  e.g.,  scola> escole  {/cole),  spongia> esporige 
i/ponge),  stabulum  >  estahle  {etable).  English  words 
derived  from  French  generally  show  the  older  form, 
but  without  the  initial  vowel,  school^  sponge^  stable.  The 
above  are  very  simple  examples  of  sound  change. 
There  are  certain  less  regular  changes,  which  appear  to 
work  in  a  more  arbitrary  fashion  and  bring  about  more 
picturesque  results.  Three  of  the  most  important  of 
these  are  assimilation,  dissimilation,  and  metathesis. 

Assimilation  is  the  tendency  of  a  sound  to  imitate 
its  neighbour.  The  tree  called  the  li7ne  was  formerly 
the  line^  and  earlier  still  the  lind.  We  see  the  older 
form  in  linden  and  in  such  place-names  as  LyndJmrst^ 
lime  wood.  Liyie  often  occurred  in  such  compounds  as 
line-bark^  line-bast,  line-wood,  where  the  second  com- 
ponent began  with  a  lip  consonant.  The  n  became 
also  a  lip  consonant  because  it  was  easier  to  pronounce, 
and  by  the  17th  century  we  generally  find  lime  instead 
of  line.  We  have  a  similar  change  in  Lombard  for 
Ger.  lang-bart,  long-beard.  For  Liverpool  we  find  also 
Litherpool  in  early  records.  If  the  reader  attempts  to 
pronounce  both  names  rapidly,  he  will  be  able  to  form 
his  own  opinion  as  to  whether  it  is  more  natural  for 
Liverpool  to  become  Litherpool  or  vice  versa,  a  vexed 
question  with  philologists.  Fr.  vdin,  a  derivative  of 
Old  Fr.  veel  {veati),  calf,  and  veniri,  Lat.  venemim^ 
have  given  Eng.  velliun  and  venom,  the  final  consonant 
being  in  each  case  assimilated^  to  the  initial  labial. 
So  also  mushroom,  Mid.  Eng.  muscheron,  Fr.  ?notissero?i, 
from  7?ionsse,  moss. 

1  Apart  from  assimilation,  there  is  a  tendency  in  English  to  substitute 
-m  for  -«,  e.g.  grogram  for  grogran  (see  p.  62),  In  the  family  name  Hansom^ 
for  Hanson,  the  son  of  Hans,  we  have  dissimilation  of  «  (see  p.  52). 


52  PHONETIC  ACCIDENTS 

Vulgar  Lat.  circare  (from  circa^  around)  gave  Old 
Fr.  cerchier^  Eng.  search.  In  modern  Fr.  chercher  the 
initial  consonant  has  been  influenced  by  the  medial  ch. 
The  in  of  the  curious  word  ampersand,  variously  spelt, 
is  due  to  the  neighbouring  /.  It  is  applied  to  the 
sign  &.  I  thought  it  obsolete  till  I  came  across  it  on 
successive  days  in  two  contemporary  writers — 

"  One  of  my  mother's  chief  cares  was  to  teach  me  my  letters, 
which  I  learnt  from  big  A  to  Ampersand  in  the  old  hornbook  at 
Lantrig."   (Quiller  Couch,  Dead  Man's  Rock^  Ch.  ii.) 

"Tommy  knew  all  about  the  work.  Knew  every  letter  in  it 
from  A  to  Eniperzan."    (Pett  Ridge,  In  the  Wars.) 

Children  used  to  repeat  the  alphabet  thus  —  "A  per 
se  A,  B  per  se  B,"  and  so  on  to  "  and  per  se  and^  The 
symbol  &  is  an  abbreviation  of  Lat.  et,  written  &. 

Dissimilation  is  the  opposite  process.  The  archaic 
word  pomander — 

"  I  have  sold  all  my  trumpery ;  not  a  counterfeit  stone,  not  a 
riband,  glass,  po??iander^  brooch,  ...  to  keep  my  pack  from 
fasting."    (JVznfer's  Tale,  iv.  3.) 

was  formerly  ^^€\.\.  po7neamber.  It  comes  from  Old  Fr. 
po7ne  amhre^  apple  of  amber,  a  ball  of  perfume  once 
carried  by  the  delicate.  In  this  case  one  of  the  two 
lip  consonants  has  been  dissimilated.  A  like  change 
has  occurred  in  Fr.  nappe ^  cloth,  from  Latin  mappa, 
whence  our  napkin^  apron  (p.  104),  and  the  family  name 
Napier. 

The  sounds  most  frequently  affected  by  dissimilation 
are  those  represented  by  the  letters  /,  n^  and  r.  Fr. 
gonfalon  is  for  older  gonfanon.  Chaucer  uses  the 
older  form,  Milton  the  newer — 

"  Ten  thousand  thousand  ensigns  high  advanced. 
Standards  dind  gonfalons,  'twixt  van  and  rear. 
Stream  in  the  air." 

{Paradise  Lost,  v.  589.) 


DISSBIILATION  53 

Gonfanon  is  of  Germanic  origin.  It  means  literally 
"battle-flag,"  and  the  second  element  is  cognate  with 
English  fane  or  vatie  (Ger.  Fahne).  Eng.  pilgrim 
and  Fr.  pclerifi,  from  LaL  pcrcgrirnis,  illustrate  the 
change  from  r  to  /,  while  the  word  frail^  an  osier 
basket  for  figs,  is  due  to  a  change  from  /  to  r,  which 
goes  back  to  Roman  times.  A  grammarian  of  imperial 
Rome  named  Probus  compiled,  about  the  3rd  or  4th 
century,  A.D.,  a  list  of  cautions  as  to  mispronunciation. 
In  this  list  we  find  ^^ flagcllum,  non  fragelluinr  In 
the  sense  of  switch,  twig,  fragelluyrt  gave  Old  Fr. 
freely  basket  made  of  twigs,  whence  Eng.  frail ;  while 
the  correct  fMgelhim  gave  Old  Yr.fleel  {Jieaii)^  v/hence 
Eng.  flail.  A  Vulgar  Lat  ^//lora,  mulberry,  from 
Lat.  morus,  mulberry^  tree,  has  given  Fr.  7u/cre.  The 
r  of  derrj-  has  brought  about  dissimilation  in  Eng. 
imilberry  and  Ger.  Maidbeerc.  Cclmiel  has  the  spelling 
of  Fr.  colonel^  but  its  pronunciation  points  rather  to 
the  dissimilated  Spanish  form  cororiel  which  is  common 
in  Elizabethan  English.  Cotgrave  has  colonel,  "a 
colonell,  or  coronell ;  the  commander  of  a  regiment." 

Sometimes  dissimilation  leads  to  the  disappearance 
of  a  consonant,  e.g.,  Eng.  feeble,  Fr.  faible,  represents 
Lat  yf^^/Z/i-,  lamentable,  from  _;fc re,  to  weep.  Fuglenian 
was  once  flitglehnan,  from  Ger.  Flilgebnann,  wing  man, 
i.e.,  a  tall  soldier  on  the  right  vring  v.ho  exaggerated  the 
various  movements  of  musketry  drill  for  the  guidance 
of  the  rest.  The  female  name  ^7/;/-r2^c:-'/is  a  dissimilation 
of  Amabel,  whence  Mabel.  By  an  irregular  change,  of 
which,  however,  we  have  other  exaimples,  A7i)iabel  has 
become  Arab  el  ox  Arabella.  Our  Ic-jel  is  Old  Yx.  livel, 
Vulgar  Lat.  ^libelliim,  for  libella,  a  plummet,  diminutive 
of  libra,  scales.  Old  Fr.  livel  became  by  dissimilation 
7iivel,  now  niveau.  Many  conjectures  have  been  made 
as  to  the  etymology  of  oriel.     It  is  from  Old  Fr.  oriol,  a 

D2 


54  PHONETIC  ACCIDENTS 

recess,  or  sanctum,  which  first  occurs  in  a  Norman 
French  poem  of  the  I2th  century  on  Becket  This  is 
from  a  late  Latin  diminutive  aulceoluvt,  a  small  chapel 
or  shrine,  which  was  dissimilated  into  aurcBolum. 

Metathesis  is  the  transposition  of  two  sounds.  A 
simple  case  is  our  trouble^  Fr.  trotihler^  from  Lat.  tiirbulare. 
Maggot  is  for  Mid.  Eng.  maddok,  a  diminutive  of  Anglo- 
Sax,  vid^a ;  cf.  Ger.  Made^  maggot.  Kittle,  in  the 
phrase  "kittle  cattle,"  is  identical  with  tickle;  cf.  Ger. 
kitsehi,  to  tickle.  The  only  reasonable  theory  for  the 
origin  of  tankard  is  that  it  stands  for  ^cantar^  from  Lat. 
cantharus,  with  which  it  corresponds  exactly  in  meaning ; 
e.g.,  canthaj'us,  "a  pot,  a  jugge,  a  ta7ikerd"  (Cooper); 
cantharo, "  a  tankard  or  ^M-g  that  houldeth  much  "  (Florio)  ; 
cantkare,  "  a  great  jugge,  or  tankard"  (Cotgrave). 

Fr.  moustiqtce,  from  Span.  mosq?uto,  is  for  earlier 
inoiisquife,  Thisel  is  Fr.  etincelle,  spark,  earlier  estincele, 
which  supposes  a  Lat.  ^stincilla  for  scintilla.  The  old 
vv^ord  anlace,  dagger,  common  in  Mid.  English  and 
revived  by  Byron  and  Scott — 

"  His  harp  in  silken  scarf  was  slung. 
And  by  his  side  an  anlacc  hung." 

{Rokeby,  v.  15.) 

has  provoked  many  guesses.  Its  oldest  form,  anelas,  is 
a  metathesis  of  the  common  Old  Fr.  alejtas,  dagger. 
This  is  formed  from  alene,  of  Germanic  origin,  cognate 
with  awl;  cf.  cutlass,  Fr.  coutelas  (p.  116).  Beverage  is 
from  Old  Fr.  bevrage,  or  betivrage,  now  bretroage,  Vulgar 
Lat.  '^biberaticmn,  from  bibere,  to  drink.  Here,  as  in 
the  case  of  level  (p.  53),  and  search  (p.  52),  English 
preserves  the  older  form. 

In  Martcllo  tower,  from  a  fort  taken  by  the  British 
(1794)  in  Mortella,  i.e.,  Myrtle,  Bay,  Corsica,  we  have 
vowel  metathesis.  Wattle  and  wallet  are  used 
indifferently  in  Mid.  English  for  a  little  bag.     Shake- 


IRREGULAR  CHANGES  55 

.  speare  no  doubt  had  in  mind  the  wattles  of  a  cock  or 
turkey  when  he  made  Gonzalo  speak  of  mountaineers — 

"Dew-lapp'd  like  bulls,  whose  throats  had  hanging  at  them 
Ji^«//^/i- of  flesh."  {Je?nj)est,\\\.  2,') 

It  goes  without  saying  that  such  linguistic 
phenomena  are  often  observed  in  the  case  of  children 
and  uneducated  people.  Not  long  ago  the  writer  was 
urged  by  a  gardener  to  embellish  his  garden  with  a 
ruskit  arch.  When  metathesis  extends  beyond  one 
word  we  have  what  is  known  as  a  spoonerism^  the 
original  type  of  which  is  said  to  be  "  Kinqiierings  congs 
their  titles  take." 

We  have  seen  (p.  52)  that  the  letters  /,  n,  r  are 
particularly  subject  to  dissimilation  and  metathesis. 
But  we  sometimes  find  them  alternating  without 
apparent  reason.  Thus  banister  is  a  modern  form  for 
the  correct  baluster}  This  was  not  at  first  applied  to 
the  rail,  but  to  the  bulging  colonets  on  which  it  rests. 
Fr.  balustre  comes,  through  Italian,  from  Greco- Lat. 
balaustium,  a  pomegranate  flower,  the  shape  of  which 
resembles  the  supports  of  a  balustrade.  Cotgrave 
explains  balustres  as  "  ballisters  \  little,  round  and  short 
pillars,  ranked  on  the  outside  of  cloisters,  terraces, 
galleries,  etc."  Glamour  is  a  doublet  of  gramjnar 
(see  p.  134),  and  flounce  was  ioixm^xXy  froutice,  from  Fr. 
froncery  now  only  used  of  "knitting"  the  brows — 

"  Till  civil-suited  morn  appear, 
Not  trickt  ■axidi  frounc' t  as  she  was  wont 
With  the  Attic  boy  to  hunt." 

( M I LTON,  Penseroso,  123.) 

¥r.  flibustier,  whence  omx  filibuster,  was  ^dsXi^x  fribustier^ 

*  Cf.  the  similar  change  in  the  family  name  Banister  (p.  i65). 


56  PHONETIC  ACCIDENTS 

a  corruption  of  Du.  vrijbuiter^  whence  directly  the  Eng. 

freebooter} 

All  words  tend  in  popular  usage  to  undergo  a 
certain  amount  of  shrinkage.  The  reduction  of  Lat. 
digitale,  from  digiUis,  finger,  to  Fr.  <//,  thimble  (little 
thumb)  is  a  striking  example.  The  strong  tonic  accent 
of  English,  which  is  usually  on  the  first,  or  root,  syllable, 
brings  about  a  kind  of  telescoping  which  makes  us  very 
unintelligible  to  foreigners.  This  is  seen  in  the 
pronunciation  of  names  such  as  Cholmondeley  and 
Marjoribanks.  Bethlehem  hospital,  for  lunatics,  becomes 
bedkmi ;  yi2.xy  Magdalene,  taken  as  a  type  of  tearful 
repentance,  gives  us  vimidMn,  now  generally  used  of  the 
lachrymose  stage  of  intoxication.  Sacristan  is  con- 
tracted into  sexton.  Fr.  paralysie  becomes  palsy,  and 
hydropisie  becomes  dropsy.  The  fuller  form  of  the  word 
usually  persists  in  the  literary  language,  or  is  artificially 
introduced  at  a  later  period,  so  that  we  get  such 
doublets  -d.^  proctor  2ir\d  procurator. 

In  the  case  of  French  words  which  have  a  prefix, 
this  prefix  is  almost  regularly  dropped  in  English,  e.g., 
rainmzt  for  array i nent ;  while  suffixes,  or  final  syllables, 
often  disappear,  eg.,  treasure  trove,  for  Old  Fr.  trove 
{trotive),  or  become  assimilated  to  some  familiar  English 
^\\6\\\%,^.%., parish,  Yx . paroisse ;  skirmish,  Fr.  escarmoiiche ; 
cartridge,  Fr.  cartouche  ;  partridge,  Yx.perdrix.  A  good 
example  of  such  shrinkage  is  the  v\^ord  vamp,  part  of  a 
shoe,  Old  Fr.  avant-pie  {pied),  which  became  Mid.  Eng. 
vampey,  and  then  lost  its  final  syllable.  We  may 
compare  vambrace,  armour  for  the  forearm,  Fr.  ava?it- 
hras,  va?igicard,  Fr.  avant-gai^de,  often  reduced  to  van — 

^  It  may  be  noted  here  that  a  buccafteer  was  not  originally  a  pirate,  but 
a  man  whose  business  was  the  smoking  of  beef  in  the  West  Indies.  The 
name  comes  from  a  native  word  boncayi,  adopted  into  French,  and  explained 
by  Cotgrave  as  a  "  woodden-gridiron  whereon  the  cannibals  broile  pieces  of 
men,  and  other  flesh," 


APHESIS  57 

"  Go,  cliarge  Agrippa 
Plant  those  that  have  revolted  in  the  van; 
That  Antony  may  seem  to  spend  his  fury 
Upon  himself." 

{Antony  arid  Cleo^afra^  iv.  6.) 

and  the  obsolete  vmint-courier^  forerunner — 

"You  sulphurous  and  thought-executing  fires, 
Fi^z/«/-^^//^*(?rj  of  oak-clea\-:ng  thunderbolts." 

iLear^  iii.  2.) 

When  the  initial  vowel  is  <^-,  its  loss  may  have  been 
helped  by  confusion  with  the  indefinite  article.  Thus 
for  anat07ny  we  find  atomy ^  for  a  skeleton  or  scarecrow 
figure,  applied  by  Mistress  Quickly  to  the  constable  (2 
Henry  IV.,  v.  4).  Peal  is  for  appeal^  call ;  7nend  for  amend, 
lo7ie  for  alone,  i.e.,  all  o?ze.     Peach,  used  by  Falstaff 

"  If  I  be  ta'en,  rll/fo^^  for  this." 

(i  Henry  IV.,  ii.  2.) 

is  for  older  appeach,  related  to  impeach.  Size,m  all  its 
senses,  is  for  assize,  Fr.  assise,  with  a  general  meaning  of 
allowance  or  assessment,  from  Fr.  asseoir,  to  put,  lay. 
Sizars  at  Cambridge  are  properly  students  in  receipt 
of  certain  allowances  called  sizings.  With  painters'  size 
we  may  compare  Ital.  assisa,  ''size  that  painters  use" 
(Florio).  We  use  the  form  assize  in  speaking  of  the 
sitting  of  the  judges,  but  those  most  familiar  with  this 
tribunal  speak  of  being  tried  at  the  'sizes.  The  obsolete 
word  cate,  on  which  Petruchio  plays — 

"For  dainties  are  all  ^^z/^i-— and  therefore,  Kate, 
Take  this  of  me,  Kate  oi  my  consolation." 

{Ja?ning  of  the  Shrew,  ii.  i.) 

is  for  earlier  acate,  an  Old  French  dialect  form  corre- 
sponding to  modern  Fr.  achat,  purchase.  The  man 
entrusted   with   purchasing   was   called   an   acatonr  or 


58  PHONETIC  ACCIDENTS 

calotir  (whence  the  name  Cator),  later  cater,  now 
extended  to  caterer,  like  poulterer  for  poulter  and 
upholsterer  for  iipholdster  or  upholder} 

Lin^eck  has  been  squeezed  out  by  the  orthodox 
ale^nhic— 

"  Memory  the  warder  of  the  brain, 
Shall  be  a  fume,  and  the  receipt  of  reason 
A  limbeck  only." 

{Macbeth,  i.  7.) 

and  prmtice  has  given  way  to  apprentice.  Tire  and 
attire  both  survive,  and  maze  persists  by  the  side  of 
amaze  with  the  special  sense  v/hich  I  have  heard  a  Notts 
collier  express  by  puzzle-garden  {cf.  Ger.  Irrgarten). 
Binnacle  is  a  corruption,  perhaps  due  to  association  with 
bin,  of  earlier  bittacle,  from  Lat.  habitaculum,  a  little 
dwelling.  It  may  have  come  to  us  through  Fr.  habitacle 
or  Port  bitacola,  "  the  bittacle,  a  frame  of  timber  in  the 
steerage,  where  the  compass  is  placed  on  board  a  ship  " 
(Vieyra,  P^^^.  Diet.,  1794).  As  King  of  Scotland,  King 
George  has  a  household  official  known  as  the  limner,  or 
painter.  For  li?nner^  we  find  in  the  15th  century 
lumner  and  luminour,  which  is  aphetic  for  alluminotir,  or 
enlumifieur.  Cotgrave,  s.v.  e7ilumineicr  de  livres,  says, 
"  we  call  one  that  coloureth,  or  painteth  upon,  paper,  or 
parchment,  an  alluminer'' 

But  confusion  with  the  article  is  not  necessary  in 
order  to  bring  about  aphesis.  It  occurs  regularly  in 
the  case  of  v/ords  beginning  with  esc,  esp,  est,  borrowed 
from  Old  French  (see  p.  51).  Thus  we  have  squire 
from    escuyer  {ccuye?-),   skew   from    Old   Fr.   eschuer,  to 

^  QC,  for  the  specialised  sense,  undertaker^  and  stationer^  properly  a 
tradesman  with  a  station  or  stall.  Costermonger  illustrates  the  converse 
process.     It  meant  originally  a  dealer  in  costards^  i.e.  apples. 

2  English  /often  occurs  as  an  attempt  at  the  French  and  Celtic  u ;  cf. 
brisk  from  brusque^  peritvig  (p.  64),  and  whisky  (p.  63). 


APHESIS  59 

dodge, "  eschew,"  ultimately  cognate  with  Eng.  shy^  spice 
from  espice  {epice)^  sprite  from  esprit,  stage  from  estage 
{etage),  etc.  In  some  cases  we  have  double  forms,  e.g., 
esquire^  eschew;  cf  saiiiple  and  example.  Fender ^ 
whether  before  a  fireplace  or  slung  outside  a  ship,  is 
for  defender ;  fence  is  always  for  defence^  either  in  the 
sense  of  a  barrier  or  in  allusion  to  the  noble  art  of  self- 
defence.^  The  tender  of  a  ship  or  of  a  locomotive  is 
the  attender^  and  tai7it  is  aphetic  for  attaint^  P>.  atteinie, 
touch — 

"  I  will  not  poison  thee  with  my  attaint.^'' 

{Lucreccy  1.  1072.) 

Puzzle  was  in  Mid.  Eng.  opposaile,  i.e.,  something  put 
before  one.     We  still  speak  of  "  a  poser." 

Spital,  for  hospital^  survives  in  Spitalfieids,  and 
Spittlegate  at  Grantham  and  elsewhere.  Crew  is  for 
accrewe  (Holinshed).  It  meant  properly  a  reinforcement, 
lit.  on-growth,  from  Fr.  accrottre,  to  accrue.  In  rccricit, 
we  have  a  later  instance  of  the  same  idea.  Fr.  recrue, 
recruit,  from  reci^ottre,  to  grow  again,  is  still  feminine, 
like  many  other  military  terms  which  were  originally 
abstract  or  collective.  Cotgrave  has  recreue^  "  a  supplie, 
or  filling  up  of  a  defective  company  of  souldiers,  etc." 
We  have  possum  for  opossum,  and  coon  for  racoon,  and 
this  for  arrahacoune,  which  I  find  in  a  16th-century 
record  of  travel ;  cf  American  skeeter  for  mosquito.  In 
these  two  cases  we  perhaps  have  also  the  deliberate 
intention  to  shorten  (see  p.  61),  as  also  in  the  obsolete 

^  Our  ancestors  appear  to  have  been  essentially  pacific.  '^'x'Chfcnce^  for 
defence,  we  may  compare  Ger.  schirmen^  to  fence,  from  Schirni^  screen  (cf. 
Regenschinn,  umbrella),  which,  passing  through  Italian  and  French,  has 
given  \xs  skirmish^  scrimmage^  scaramouch  (see  p.  1 31),  and  Shakespeareaii 
scrimer,  fencer  {Hamlety  iv.  7).  So  also  Ger.  Gewehr^  weapon,  is  cognate 
with  Eng.  weir,  and  means  defence — 

*•  Get  animal  est  tres  mechant ; 
Quand  on  I'attaque,  il  se  defend." 


60  PHONETIC  ACCIDENTS 

Australian  tench^  for  the  aphetic  'tentzary,  i.e.,  peni- 
tentiary.   With  this  we  may  compare  ^tec  for  detective. 

Drawing-room  is  for  withdr^awing  room^  and  only 
the  final  t  of  saint  is  left  in  Tooley  St.,  famed  for  its 
three  tailors,  formerly  Saint  Olave  Street,  and  tawdry. 
This  latter  word  is  well  known  to  be  derived  from  Saint 
Audrey's  fair.     It  was  not  originally  depreciatory — 

"  Come,  you  promised  me  a  tawdry  lace,  and  a  pair  of  sweet 
gloves."     ( Winters  Tale,  iv.  3.) 

and  the  full  form  is  recorded  by  Palsgrave,  who  has 
Seynt  Andries  (read  Aiidrie's)  lace,  "cordon." 

In  drat,  formerly  'od  rot,  zoimds,  for  God^s  wounds, 
'sdeath,  odsbodikins,  etc.,  there  is  probably  a  deliberate 
avoidance  of  profanity.  The  same  tendency  is  seen  in 
Gogs  {Shrew,  iii.  2),  Fr.  parbleu,  and  Ger.  Potz  in  Potztaii- 
send,  etc.  The  verb  vie  comes  from  Fr.  envi,  Lat.  invitus, 
unwilling,  in  the  phrase  a  Venvi  Vun  de  V autre,  "in 
emulation  one  of  the  other  "  (Cotgrave) ;  cf  gin  (trap), 
Fr.  engin,  Lat.  ingenitini.  The  prefix  dis  or  des  is  lost 
in  Spe7icer  (see  p.  153),  spite,  splay,  sport,  stain,  etc. 

This  English  tendency  to  aphesis  is  satirised  by 
a  French  song  of  the  14th  century,  intentionally 
written  in  bad  French.     Thus,  in  the  line — 

"  Or  sont  il  vint  le  tans  que  Glais  voura  vauchier.'' 

Glais  is  for  Anglais  and  vauchier  is  for  chevauchier 
{ckevaucker),  to  ride  on  a  foray.  The  literary  language 
runs  counter  to  this  instinct,  though  Shakespeare 
wrote  haviour  for  behaviour  and  longing  for/  belonging, 
while  billiinents  for  habilifnents  is  regular  up  to 
the  17th  century.  Children  keep  up  the  national  prac- 
tice when  they  say  member  for  reme7nber  and  zainine 
for  exami7te.  It  is  quite  certain  that  baccy  and  later  would 
be    recognised    literary   forms    if    America    had   been 


CLIPPED  WORDS  61 

discovered  two  centuries  sooner  or  printing  invented 
two  centuries  later. 

Many  words  are  shortened,  not  by  natural  and 
gradual  shrinkage,  but  by  deliberate  laziness.  The 
national  distaste  for  many  syllables  appears  in  wire  for 
telegra7n,  the  Artful  Dodger's  ivipe  for  the  cXMmsy  pocket 
handkerchiefs  soccer  for  association^  and  such  portmanteau 
words  as  sqziarson^  an  individual  who  is  at  once  squire 
3ind  parson,  or  Bakerloo  for  Baker  St.  and  Waterloo. 

The  simplest  way  of  reducing  a  word  is  to  take  the 
first  syllable  and  make  it  a  symbol  for  the  rest  Of  com- 
paratively modern  formation  are//^^  and  Zoo^  with  which 
we  may  compare  Barfs^  for  Saint  Bartholomew's,  Cri, 
Pav^  "half  a  ;W,"  bike,  and  Q\Qn paj\  {or pageant. 

This  method  of  shortening  words  was  verj^  popular 
in  the  17th  century,  from  which  period  date  <://(izen), 
mod(i\e  vulgus)  and  pun(dignon).  We  often  find  the 
fuller  mobile  used  for  mob.  The  origin  of  pu?idigrio7i  is 
uncertain.  It  may  be  an  illiterate  attempt  at  Ital. 
puntiglio^  which,  like  Fr.  pointe,  was  used  of  a  verbal 
quibble  or  fine  distinction.  Most  of  these  clipped  forms 
are  easily  identified,  e.g.,  r<^(riolet),  ^t^/2/(Ieman), 
hack{nQy),  ^'^/(erinary  surgeon).  Cad  is  for  Scot,  caddie, 
errand  boy,  now  familiar  in  connection 'with  golf,  and 
caddie  is  from  Fr.  cadet.  The  word  had  not  always  the 
very  strong  meaning  we  now  associate  with  it  Among 
Sketches  by  Boz  is  one  entitled,  "The  last  Cab  driver 
and  the  first  Omnibus  Cadi'  where  cad  means  conductor. 
On  tick,  for  on  ticket ,  is  found  in  the  17th  century. 
We  may  compare  the  more  modern  biz  and  spec.  B?'ig 
is  for  brigantine,  Ital.  brigantino,  **  a  kinde  of  pinnasse  or 
small  barke  called  a  brigantine''  (Florio).  The  original 
meaning  is  pirate  ship;  cf  brigand.  \Vag\\2.s  improved 
in  meaning.  It  is  for  older  wagiialter.  Cotgrave  has 
baboin  {baboimt),  "  a  trifling,  busie,  or  crafty  knave ;  a 


62  PHONETIC  ACCIDENTS 

crackrope,  waghalter,  etc."  The  older  sense  survives  in 
the  phrase  "  to  play  the  zvagl'  i.e.  truant.  For  the  "  rope  " 
figure  we  may  compare  Scot,  kempie,  a  minx,  and 
obsolete  Ital.  cavestf-olo,  a  diminutive  from  Lat.  capistrumy 
halter,  explained  by  Florio  as  "  a  zvag^  a  haltersacke." 
Modern  Ital.  capes  fro  is  used  in  the  same  sense.  Crack- 
rope  is  shortened  to  C7^ack.  Justice  Shallow  remembered 
Falstaff  breaking  somebody's  head  "  when  he  was  a 
crack,  not  thus  high"  (2  Henry  IV.,  iii.  2). 

C/iap  is  for  c/iapman,  once  in  general  use  for  a 
m.erchant  and  still  a  common  family  name.  It  is 
cognate  with  cheap,  c/ia^er,  and  Ger.  kazifen,  to  buy,  and 
probably  also  with  Lat.  caiipo,  tavern  keeper.  We  have 
the  Dutch  form  in  horse-coiiper,  and  also  in  the  word 
coopering,  the  illicit  sale  of  spirits  by  Dutch  boats  to 
North  Sea  fishermen.  Merchant  was  used  by  the 
Elizabethans  in  the  same  way  as  our  chap.  Thus  the 
Countess  of  Auvergne  calls  Talbot  a  "riddling  merchant 
(i  Henry  VI.,  ii.  3).  We  may  also  compare  Scot. 
callant,  chap,  from  the  Picard  form  of  Fr.  chaland, 
customer,  and  our  own  expression  "a  rum  customerl^ 
reduced  in  America  to  "a  rum  cilss^  Hock,  for  Hoch- 
heimer,  wine  from  Hochheim,  occurs  as  early  as 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher ;  and  mm,  spirit,  is  for  earlier 
rumbullion,  of  obscure  origin.  Gi7i  is  for  geneva,  a 
corruption  of  Fr.  genievre,  Lat.  jimiperiis,  from  the 
berries  of  which  it  is  distilled.  The  history  of  g?'og  is 
more  com.plicated.  The  stuff  called  grograin,  earlier 
grograyfie,  is  from  Fr.  gros grain,  coarse  grain.  Admiral 
Vernon  (i 8th  century)  was  called  by  the  sailors  "Old 
Grog"  from  his  habit  of  wearing  grogram  breeches. 
When  he  issued  orders  that  the  regular  allowance 
of  rum  was  henceforth  to  be  diluted  with  water,  the 
sailors  promptly  baptized  the  mixture  with  his  nick- 
name. 


CLIPPED  FORMS  63 

Sometimes  the  two  first  syllables  survive.  We  have 
navvy  for  navigator^  brandy  for  brandywine,  from  Du. 
brandewyn,  lit  burnt  wine,  and  whisky  for  usquebaugh^ 
Gaelic  uisge-beatha^  water  of  life  (cf.  eau-de-vie)^  so  that 
the  literal  meaning  of  whisky  is  very  innocent.  Before 
the  1 8th  century  usquebaugh  is  the  regular  form.  "  The 
prime  is  usquebaugJi^  which  cannot  be  made  anywhere 
in  that  perfection ;  and  whereas  we  drink  it  here  in 
aqua  vitcB  measures,  it  goes  down  there  by  beer-glassfuls, 
being  more  natural  to  the  nation."  Canter  is  for 
Canterbury  gallop,  the  pace  of  pilgrims  riding  to  the 
shrine  of  St  Thomas.  John  Dennis,  known  as  Dennis 
the  Critic,  says  of  Pope,  "  Boileau's  Pegasus  has  all  his 
paces.  The  Pegasus  of  Pope,  like  a  Kentish  post-horse, 
is  always  on  the  Canterbury T  In  bugle ^  for  bugle-horn, 
lit.  wild-ox-horn.  Old  Fr.  bugle,  Lat.  buculus,  a  diminutive 
of  bos,  ox,  we  have  perhaps  rather  an  ellipsis,  like 
waterproof  {co^X),  than  a  clipped  form — 

"  Comrades,  leave  me  here  a  little,  while  as  yet  'tis  early  morn  : 
Leave  me  here,  and  when  you  want  me,  sound  upon  the  bugle- 
horn."  {Lockshy  Hall.) 

Patter  is  no  doubt  for  paternoster — 

"  Fitz-Eustace,  you,  with  Lady  Clare, 
May  bid  your  beads  d^Vidi patter  prayer." 

{Alarmion,  vi.  27.) 

and  the  use  of  the  word  marble  for  a  toy  originally  made 
of  that  stone  makes  it  pretty  certain  that  the  alley,  most 
precious  of  marbles,  is  short  for  alabaster. 

Less  frequently  the  final  syllable  is  selected,  e.g.,  bus 
for  07nnibus,  loo  for  lanterloo,  variously  spelt  in  the  17th 
and  1 8th  centuries.  Fr.  lanturelu  was  originally  the 
meaningless  refrain  or  "  tol  de  rol "  of  a  popular  song 
in    Richelieu's   time.      Van    is   for   caravan,   a   Persian 


64  PHONETIC  ACCIDENTS 

word,  properly  a  company  of  merchants  or  ships 
travelling  together,  "also  of  late  corruptly  used  with 
us  for  a  kind  of  waggon  to  carry  passengers  to  and 
from  London"  (Blount,  Glossographia^  1674).  Wig  is 
for  periwigs  a  corruption  of  Fr.  pernique^  of  obscure 
origin.  '  Varsity^  for  university,  and  Sam  Weller's  ^Tizer^ 
for  Morning  Advertiser^  belong  to  the  19th  century. 

Christian  names  are  treated  in  the  same  way. 
Alexa7idcr  gives  Alec  and  Sandy,  Herbert,  ^Erb  or  Bert, 
lb  (see  p.  160)  was  once  common  for  Isabella,  while  the 
modern  language  prefers  Bella;  Maud  for  Matilda  is 
rather  a  case  of  natural  shrinkage,  while  'Tilda  is 
perhaps  due  to  unconscious  aphesis,  like  Denry — 

"  She  saved  a  certain  amount  of  time  every  day  by  addressing 
her  son  as  Denry,  instead  of  Edward  Henry  ^^  (Arnold 
Bennett,  The  Card,  Ch.  i.) 

Among  conscious  word  formations  may  be  classed 
many  reduplicated  forms,  whether  riming,  as  hurly- 
burly,  or  alliterative,  as  tittle-tattle,  though  reduplication 
belongs  to  the  natural  speech  of  children,  and  in  at 
least  one  case,  Fr.  tante,  from  ante-ante,  Lat.  amita,  the 
baby  word  has  prevailed.  In  a  reduplicated  form  only 
one  half  as  a  rule  needs  to  be  explained.  Thus  seesaw 
is  from  saw,  the  motion  suggesting  two  sawyers  at 
v/ork  on  a  log.  Zigzag  is  based  on  zag,  cognate  with 
Ger.  Zacke,  tooth,  point.  Shilly-shally  is  for  shill  I,  shall 
I?  Namby-pamby  commemorates  the  poet  Ambrose 
Philips,  who  was  thus  nicknamed  by  Pope  and  his 
friends.     The  weapon  called  a  snickersnee — 

"  As  he  squirmed  and  struggled 
And  gurgled  and  guggled, 
I  drew  my  snickersnee.^^ 

{The  Mikado,  ii.) 

is  of  Dutch  origin  and  means  something  like  "cut  and 


PICKABACK  65 

thrust"  It  is  usually  mentioned  in  connection  with  the 
Hollanders — 

"Among  other  customs  they  have  in  that  town,  one  is,  that 
none  must  carry  a  pointed  knife  aboui:  him  ;  which  makes  the 
Hollander,  who  is  us'd  to  snik  and  sme,  to  leave  his  horn-sheath 
and  knife  a  ship-board  v.hen  he  comes  ashore."  (HowELL,  letter 
from  Florence,  162 1.) 

The  compound  does  not  occur  in  Dutch.  It  is  rather 
an  English  variant  on  Du.  S7ice.  cut.  Reduplication 
is  also  responsible  for  pichMback^  earlier  pickpack,  from 
pack,  bundle.  The  modern  form  is  due  to  popular  asso- 
ciation with  back. 


CHAPTER   VI 

WORDS   AND   MEANINGS 

We  have  all  noticed  the  fantastic  way  in  which  ideas 
are  linked  together  in  our  thoughts.  One  thing 
suggests  another  with  which  it  is  accidentally  asso- 
ciated in  memory,  the  second  suggests  a  third,  and, 
in  the  course  even  of  a  few  seconds,  we  find  that 
we  have  travelled  from  one  subject  to  another  so 
remote  that  it  requires  an  effort  to  reconstruct  the 
series  of  links  which  connects  them.  The  same  thing 
happens  with  words.  A  great  number  of  vrords, 
despite  great  changes  of  sense,  retain  the  fundamental 
m.eaning  of  the  original,  but  in  many  cases  this  is  quite 
lost.  A  truer  image  than  that  of  the  linked  chain 
v/ould  be  that  of  a  sphere  giving  off  in  various 
directions  a  number  of  rays  each  of  which  may  form 
the  nucleus  of  a  fresh  sphere.  Or  we  may  say  that  at 
each  link  of  the  chain  there  is  a  possibility  of  another 
chain  branching  off  in  a  direction  of  its  own.  In 
Cotgrave's  time  to  garble  (see  p.  19)  and  to  cayivass,  i.e. 
sift  through  canvas^  meant  the  same  thing.  Yet  how 
different  is  their  later  sense  development. 

There  is  a  word  ban^  found  in  Old  High  German 
and  Anglo-Saxon,  and  meaning,  as  far  back  as  it  can 
be  traced,  a  proclamation  containing  a  threat,  hence  a 

command  or  prohibition.     We  have  it  in  ba?ush^  to  put 
m 


BAN— BURExVU— ROMANCE  67 

under  the  ban.  The  proclamation  idea  survives  in  the 
banns  of  marriage  and  in  Fr.  arriere-ban^  "a  proclama- 
tion, whereby  those  that  hold  authority  of  the  king  in 
mesne  tenure,  are  summoned  to  assemble,  and  serve 
him  in  his  warres  "  (Cotgrave).  This  is  folk-etymology 
for  Old  Fr.  arban,  Old  High  Ger.  hari-ban^  army 
summons.  Slanting  off  from  the  primitive  idea  of 
proclamation  is  that  of  rule  or  authority.  The  French 
for  outskirts  is  baniteiie,  properly  the  "circuit  of  a 
league,  or  thereabouts"  (Cotgrave)  over  which  the  local 
authority  extended.  All  public  institutions  within  such 
a  radius  were  associated  with  ban,  e.g.,  unfoiir,  icn  7noidi7i 
a  ban,  "  a  comon  oven  or  mill  whereat  all  men  may,  and 
every  tenant  and  vassall  must,  bake,  and  grind " 
(Cotgrave)-  The  French  adjective  banal,  used  in  this 
connection,  gradually  developed  from  the  meaning  of 
"common"  that  of  "common  place,"  in  which  sense  it 
is  now  familiar  in  English.^ 

Btirean,  a  desk,  was  borrowed  from  French  in  the 
L7th  century.  In  modern  French  it  means  not  only 
the  desk,  but  also  the  office  itself  and  the  authority 
exercised  by  the  office.  Hence  our  familiar  bureaucracy, 
likely  to  become  increasingly  familiar.  The  desk  is  so 
called  because  covered  with  bureau,  Old  Fr.  buret,  "  a 
thicke  course  cloath,  of  a  brown  russet,  or  darke 
mingled,  colour"  (Cotgrave),  whence  Mid.  Eng.  borel, 
rustic,  clownish,  lit.  roughly  clad.  The  source  is  per- 
haps Lat.  hirms,  fiery,  from  Gk.  irvp,  fire. 

Romance  was  originally  an  adverb.  To  write  in  the 
vulgar  tongue,  instead  of  in  classical  Latin,  was  called 
romanice  scribere.  Old  Fr.  romanz  escrire.  When  roinanz 
became  felt  as  a  noun,  it  developed  a  "singular"  roynan 
or  romant,  the  latter  of  which  gave  the  archaic  Eng. 
ro7naunt.     The  most  famous  of  Old  French  romances 

*  Archaic  Eng.  i5a;z/za/ already  existed  in  the  technical  sense. 


68  WORDS  AND  MEAfsflNGS 

are  the  epic  poems  called  Chansons  de  geste^  songs  of 
exploits,  geste  coming  from  the  Lat.  gesta^  deeds.  Eng. 
gcst  or  jest  is  common  in  the  i6th  and  17th  centuries  in 
the  sense  of  act,  deed,  and  y^i-Z-book  meant  a  story-book. 
As  the  favourite  story-books  were  merry  tales,  the  word 
gradually  acquired  its  present  meaning. 

A  part  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  church  vocabulary  was 
supplanted  by  Latin  or  French  words.  Thus  Anglo- 
Sax,  ge-bed,  prayer,  was  gradually  expelled  by  Old 
Fr.  preiere  {priere),  Lat.  p7'ecaria.  It  has  survived  in 
beadsynan — 

"  The  beadsjnan^  after  thousand  aves  told, 
For  aye  unsought-for  slept  among  his  ashes  cold." 

(Keats,  Eve  of  St  Agnes.) 

beadroll,  and  bead^  now  applied  only  to  the  humble 
device  employed  in  counting  prayers. 

Not  only  the  Romance  languages,  but  also  German 
and  Dutch,  adopted,  with  the  Roman  character,  Lat. 
scribere^  to  write.  English,  on  the  contrary,  preserved 
the  native  to  write^  i.e.  to  scratch  (runes),  giving  to 
scribere  only  a  limited  sense,  to  shrive. 

The  meaning  which  we  generally  give  to  pudding 
is  comparatively  modern.  The  older  sense  appears 
in  bhuk  ptidding,  a  sausage  made  of  pig's  blood.  This 
is  also  the  meaning  of  Fr.  bo2idi?i,  whence  pudding 
comes.  A  still  older  meaning  of  both  words  is 
intestine. 

A  hearse^  now  the  vehicle  in  which  a  coffin  is 
carried,  is  used  by  Shakespeare  for  a  coffin  or  tomb. 
Its  earlier  meaning  is  a  framework  to  support  candles, 
usually  put  round  the  coffin  at  a  funeral.  This  frame- 
work was  so  named  from  some  resemblance  to  a 
harrow,^  Fr.  herse^  Lat.  hirpex^  hirpic-^  a  rake. 

^  This  is  the  usual  explanation.     It  seems  possible  that  the  framework 
suggested  a  portcullis.     See  p.  142. 


TREACLE— PASTERN  .  69 

■Treacle  is  a  stock  example  of  great  change  of 
'  meaning.  In  Jeremiah,  viii.  22,  where  the  Vulgate 
has  "  Numquid  resina  non  est  in  Galaad  ?  '*  Coverdale's 
Bible  has  "  There  is  no  more  triacle  at  Galaad."  Old  Fr. 
triacle  is  from  Greco-Lat.  tJieriaca^  a  remedy  against 
poison  or  snake-bite  (dt)p,  a  wild  beast).  In  Mid. 
English  and  later  it  was  used  of  a  sovereign  remedy. 
It  has,  like  sirup  (p.  135),  acquired  its  present  m.eaning 
via  the  apothecary's  shop. 

A  stickler  is  now  a  man  who  is  fussy  about  small 
points  of  etiquette  or  procedure.  In  Shakespeare  he  is 
one  who  parts  combatants — 

"The  dragon  wing  of  night  o'erspreads  the  earth, 
And,  stickler-\\V^^  the  armies  separates." 

{Troilus  and  Cressida^ -v.  Z.) 

An  earlier  sense  is  that  of  seeing  fair-play.  The  deriva- 
tion is  disputed,  but  the  word  has  been  popularly 
associated  with  the  stick,  or  staff,  used  by  the  umpires 
in  duels.  Torriano  (1659)  gives  stickler  as  one  of  the 
meanings  of  bastoniere,  a  verger  or  mace-bearer. 

Infantry  comes,  through  French,  from  Italian.  It 
means  a  collection  of  "infants"  or  juniors,  so  called  by 
contrast  with  the  proved  veterans  who  composed  the 
cavalry. 

The  pasteni  of  a  horse,  defined  by  Dr  Johnson  as 
the  knee,  from  "  ignorance,  madam,  pure  ignorance," 
still  means  in  Cotgrave  and  Florio  "  shackle."  Florio 
even  recognises  a  verb  to  pastern^  e.g.,  pastoiare^  "  to 
fetter,  to  clog,  to  shackle,  to  pastern,  to  give  {gyv€)'^ 
It  comes  from  Old  Yx.  pastJiroji  {patunvi),  2i  derivative 
oi  pasture,  such  shackles  being  used  to  prevent  grazing 
horses  from  straying.  Pester  {^.  155)  is  connected  with 
it.  The  modern  French  word  has  changed  its  meaning 
in  the  same  way. 

E  2 


70  WORDS  AND  MEANINGS 

To  rummage  means  in  the  Elizabethan  navigators 
to  stow  goods  in  a  hold.  A  rummager  was  what  we 
call  a  stevedore}  Rummage  is  Old  Fr.  arriimage 
(arri7nage),  from  arriimer^  to  stow,  the  middle  syllable 
of  which  is  probably  cognate  with  English  room;  cf. 
arranger^  to  put  in  "  rank." 

The  Christmas  waits  were  originally  watchmen, 
Anglo-Fr.  waite.  Old  Fr.  gaite,  from  the  Old  High 
German  form  of  modern  Ger.  Wacht,  watch.  Modern 
French  still  has  the  verb  g2ietter^  to  lie  in  wait  for,  and 
guet,  the  watch.  Minstrel  comes  from  an  Old  French 
derivative  of  Lat.  minister^  servant.  Modern  Fr.  mene- 
trier  is  only  used  of  a  country  fiddler  who  attends  village 
weddings. 

The  lumber-room  is  supposed  to  be  for  Lombardnoom, 
i.e.^  the  room  in  which  pawnbrokers  used  to  store 
pledged  property.  The  Lombards  introduced  the  three 
golden  balls  into  this  country. 

Livery  is  thus  explained  by  the  poet  Spenser :  "  What 
livery  is,  we  by  common  use  in  England  know  well 
enough,  nam.ely,  that  it  is  allowance  of  horse-meat,  as 
they  com.monly  use  the  word  in  stabling ;  as,  to  keep 
horses  at  livery ;  the  which  v/ord,  I  guess,  is  derived  of 
livering  or  deliveri?ig  forth  their  nightly  food.  So  in 
great  houses,  the  livery  is  said  to  be  served  up  for 
all  night,  that  is,  their  evening  allowance  for  drink  ; 
and  livery  is  also  called  the  upper  weed  which  a 
serving-man  wears;  so  called,  as  I  suppose,  for 
that  it  was  delivered  and  taken  from  him  at  pleasure." 
This  passage  explains  also  livery  stable.^      Our  word 

^  A  Spanish  word,  Lat.  siipator,  "  one  that  stoppeth  chinkes  "  (Cooper). 
It  came  to  England  in  connection  with  the  wool  trade. 

-  In  "  livery  and  bait  "  there  is  pleonasm.  Bait^  connected  with  bit/!,  is 
the  same  word  as  in  heTix-baiting  and  fishermen's  bait.  We  have  it  also, 
via  Old  French,  in  abe'^  whence  the  aphetic  bet,  originally  to  tgg  on. 


PEDIGREE— WAFER  71 

comes  from  Fr.  livree,  the  feminine  past  participle  of 
livrer,  from  Lat.  liberare^  to  deliver. 

Pedigree  was  in  Mid.  ^ngVishpedegrew^petigrew^  etc. 
It  represents  Old  Fr.  pie  {pied)  de  gnie^  crane's  foot, 
from  the  shape  of  a  sign  used  in  showing  lines  of 
descent  in  genealogical  charts.  The  older  form  survives 
in  the  family  name  Pettigrew.  Here  it  is  a  nicknam.e, 
like  Pettifer^  iron  foot ;  cf  Sheepshanks. 

Fairy  is  a  collective,  ¥r.f/erie^  its  modern  use  being 
perhaps  due  to  its  occurrence  in  such  phrases  as  Faerie 
Qtieen,  i.e.,  Queen  of  Fairyland.  Cf  payjiini,  used  by 
some  poets  iox  pagan y  but  really  a  doublet  o{  paganism^ 
occurring  in  pay?iim  host,  paynivi  knight,  etc.  The 
correct  name  for  the  individual  fairy  is  fay,  Fr.  fee, 
\j?X.  fata,  plural  oi  fatuni,{2i\.^.  This  appears  in  Ital. 
fata,  "a  fairie,  a  witch,  an  enchantres,  an  elfe"  (Florio). 
The  fata  morgana,  the  mirage  sometimes  seen  in  the 
Strait  of  Messina,  is  attributed  to  the  fairy  Morgana  of 
Tasso,  the  Morgan  le  Fay  of  our  own  Arthurian  legends. 

Many  people  must  have  wondered  at  some  time 
why  the  cltibs  and  spades  on  cards  are  so  called.  The 
latter  figure,  it  is  true,  bears  some  resemblance  to  a 
spade,  but  no  giant  of  fiction  is  depicted  with  a  club 
with  a  triple  head.  The  explanation  is  that  we  have 
adopted  the  French  pattern,  carreau  (see  p.  i  $o),  diamond, 
c(Bur,  hQTirt, pique,  pike,  spear-head,  trefe,  trefoil,  clover- 
leaf,  but  have  given  to  the  two  latter  the  names  used 
in  the  Italian  and  Spanish  pattern,  which,  instead  of  the 
pike  and  trefoil,  has  the  sword  (Ital.  spadd)  and  mace 
(Ital.  bastone).  Etymologically  both  spades  are  identical, 
the  origin  being  Greco-Lat.  spatha,  the  name  of  a  number 
of  blade-shaped  objects;  cf  the  diminutive  spatula. 

Wafer,  in  both  its  senses,  is  related  to  Ger.  Wabe, 
honeycomb.  We  find  Anglo-Fr.  wafre  in  the  sense  of 
a  thin  cake,  perhaps  stamped  with  a  honeycomb  pattern. 


72  WORDS  AND  MEANINGS 

The  cognate  Fr.  gmifre  is  the  name  of  a  similar  cake 
which  not  only  has  the  honeycomb  pattern,  but  is  also 
largely  composed  of  honey.  Hence  our  verb  to  goffer^ 
to  give  a  cellular  appearance  to  a  frill. 

The  meanings  of  adjectives  are  especially  subject 
to  change.  Quaint  now  conve3^s  the  idea  of  what  is 
unusual,  and,  as  early  as  the  17th  century,  we  find 
it  explained  as  "strange,  unknown."  This  is  the 
exact  opposite  of  its  original  meaning,  Old  Fr.  cointe, 
Lat.  cognitus ;  cf.,  acquaint^  Old  Fr.  acointier,  make 
known.  It  is  possible  to  trace  roughly  the  process  by 
which  this  remark^^ble  volte -face  has  been  brought 
about.  The  intermediate  sense  of  trim  or  pretty  is 
common  in  Shakespeare — 

"  For  a  fine,  quaint,  graceful,  and  excellent  fashion,  yours  is 
worth  ten  on't."     {Much  Ado,  iii.  4.) 

We  apply  restive  to  a  horse  that  will  not  stand  still. 
It  means  properly  a  horse  that  will  not  do  anything 
else.  Fr.  retif  Old  Fr.  restif]  from  rester^  to  remahi, 
Lat.  re-stare^  has  kept  more  of  the  original  sense. 
Scot,  to  reest  means  to  stand  stock-still.  Dryden  even 
uses  restive  m  the  sense  of  sluefo-ish — 

*'  So  James  the  drowsy  genius  wakes 
Of  Britain,  long  entranced  in  charms, 
Restive,  and  slumbering  on  its  arms." 

(  Threnodia  A  ugtcstalis. ) 

Rcasty,  used  of  meat  that  has  "stood"  too  long,  is 
the  same  word,  (cf  testy,  Old  Fr.  testif,  heady),  and 
rusty  bacon  is  probably  folk-etymology  for  reasty 
bacon — 

"  And  then  came  haltyng  Jone, 
And  brought  a  gambone 
Of  bakon  that  was  reasty" 

( S  K  ELTON,  Elyjiotir  Rnni7nyng. ) 


STERLING— PETTY  73 

Sterling  has  a  curious  history.  It  is  from  Old  Fr. 
esterlin,  a  coin  which  etymologists  have  until  lately 
connected  with  the  Eastcrlings^  or  Hanse  merchants,  who 
formed  one  of  the  great  mercantile  communities  of 
the  Middle  Ages;  and  perhaps  some  such  association 
is  responsible  for  the  meaning  that  sterling  has  acquired  ; 
but  chronology  shows  this  traditional  etymolog>^  to  be 
impossible.  We  find  tmus  sterlingus  in  a  medieval  Latin 
document  of  1184,  and  the  Old  French  estcrlin  occurs  in 
Wace's  Roman  de  Roic  (Romaunt  of  Rollo  the  Sea 
King),  which  was  written  before  1175.  Hence  it  is 
conjectured  that  the  original  coin  may  have  been 
stamped  v/ith  a  star  or  a  starliiig. 

When  Horatio  says— 

"  It  is  a  nipping  and  an  eager  air."     {Hamlet^  L  4.) 

we  are  reminded  that  eager  is  identical  with  the  second 
part  of  vin-^^^^r,  Fr.  aigre,  sour,  Lat.  acer,  keen.  It  seems 
hardly  possible  to  explain  the  modern  sense  oiyiice^  which 
in  the  course  of  its  history  has  traversed  nearly  the  whole 
diatonic  scale  between  "rotten"  and  "ripping."  In 
Mid.  English  and  Old  French  it  means  foolish. 
Cotgrave  explains  it  by  "lither,  lazie,  sloathful,  idle  ; 
faint,  slack ;  dull,  simple."  It  is  supposed  to  come 
from  Lat  nescius,  ignorant.  The  transition  from  fond^ 
foolish,  which  survives  in  ''fond  hopes,"  to  fond,  loving, 
is  easy.  French  foit  is  used  in  exactly  the  same  way. 
Cf  also  to  dote  on,  i.e.,  to  be  foolish  about.  Puny  is 
Fr.  putney  from  puis  7ie\  later  born,  junior,  whence  the 
piis7ie  justices.     Milton  uses  it  of  a  minor— 

"  He  must  appear  in  print  like  2.  puny  with  his  guardian." 

{Areopagitica.) 

Petty^  Fr.  petit,  was  similarly  used  for  a  small  boy. 

In  some  cases  a  complimentary  adjective  loses  its 
true  meaning  and  takes  on  a  contemptuous  or  ironic 


74  WORDS  AND  MEANINGS 

sense.  None  of  us  care  to  be  called  bland^  and  to  describe 
a  man  as  worthy  is  to  apologise  for  his  existence.  We 
may  compare  Fr.  bonhonime^  which  now  means  generally 
an  old  fool,  and  ^^;2^'^/6';;2w^,  good -wife,  goody.  Dappej-^ 
the  Dutch  for  brave  {cf.  Ger.  tapfer\  and  pert.  Mid. 
Eng.  ape7't,  representing  in  meaning  Lat  expertics,  have 
changed  much  since  Milton  wrote  of — 

" The /^r/ fairies  and  the  dapper q\\&s'^     {Comus,  ii8.) 

Pert  seems  in  fact  to  have  acquired  the  meaning  of  its 
opposite  vialapej't.  Smug,  s.  variant  of  Ger.  sc/inmck, 
trim,  elegant,  beautiful,  has  its  original  sense  in 
Shakespeare — 

"And  here  the  smug  and  silver  Trent  shall  run 
In  a  new  channel,  fair  and  evenly." 

(i  Henry  /K,  iii.  i.) 

The  degeneration  of  an  adjective  is  sometimes  due 
to  its  employment  for  euphemistic  purposes.  The 
favourite  substitute  for  fat  is  stoict,  properly  strong,^ 
dauntless,  etc.,  cognate  v/ith  Ger.  stolz,  proud.  Pre- 
cisely the  same  euphemism  appears  in  French,  e.g., 
ti7ie  dame  un  pen  forte.  Ugly  is  replaced  by  plai?iy  or 
homely ,  "ugly,  disagreeable,  course,  m^ean  "  (Kersey's 
Dictioyiaiy,  1720).  Hojnely  has  been  rehabilitated  in 
English,  but  in  America  it  still  has  the  sense  given  by 
Kersey. 

Change  of  meaning  may  be  brought  about  by 
association.  A  miniature  is  a  small  portrait,  and  we 
even  use  the  word  as  an  adjective  meaning  "small,  on  a 
reduced  scale."  But  the  true  sense  of  viiniatiire  is 
something  painted  in  vmiium,  red  lead.    Florio  explains 

^  Hence  the  use  of  sto2it  for  a  "strong"  beer.  Portgr  was  once  the 
favourite  tap  ol porters^  and  a  mixture  of  stout  and  ale,  now  known  as  cooper, 
was  especially  relished  by  the  brewery  cooper. 


DEGENERATION  IN  MEANING  75 

miniatiira  as  "a  limning  (see  p.  58),  a  painting  with 
vermilion."  Such  paintings  were  usually  small,  hence 
the  later  meaning.  The  word  was  first  applied  to  the 
ornamental  red  initial  capitals  in  manuscripts.  Vignette 
still  means  technically  in  French  an  interlaced  vine- 
pattern  on  a  frontispiece.!  Cotgrave  has  vignettes^ 
"vignets;  branches,  or  branch-like  borders,  or  flourishes 
in  painting,  or  ingravery." 

The  degeneration  in  the  meaning  of  a  noun  ma)^  be 
partly  due  to  frequent  association  with  disparaging 
adjectives.  Thus  Jmssy^  i.e.  housewife,  qiiea7i;-  lit. 
woman,  ivench^  child,  have  absorbed  such  adjectives  as 
impudent,  idle,  light,  saucy,  etc.  Shakespeare  uses 
quean  only  three  times,  and  these  three  include 
"cozening  quean"  {Merry  Wives,  iv.  2)  and  "scolding 
quean"  {AlVs  Well,  \\.  2).  With  wench,  still  used 
without  any  disparaging  sense  by  country  folk,  we  may 
compare  Fr.  garce,  lass,  and  Ger.  Dime,  maid-servant, 
both  of  which  are  now  insulting  epithets,  but,  in  the 
older  language,  could  be  applied  to  Joan  of  Arc  and  the 
Virgin  Mary  respectively.  Garce  was  replaced  by  fille, 
which  has  acquired  in  its  turn  a  meaning  so  offensive 
that  it  has  now  given  way  to  jeune  fMe.  Minx,  earlier 
ntinkes,  is  probably  the  Low  Ger.  viinsk,  Ger.  MenscJi, 
lit  human,  but  used  also  in  the  sense  of  "wench." 
For  the  consonantal  change  cf  luuiks,  Dan.  hiindsk, 
stingy,  lit.  doggish.  These  examples  show  that  the 
indignant  "  Who  are  you  calling  a  woman  ? "  is, 
philologically,  in  all  likelihood  a  case  of  intelligent 
anticipation. 

Adjectives  are  affected  in  their  turn  by  being 
regularly  coupled  with  certain  njuns.     A  buxan  help- 

*  Folk-etymology  iox  frontispice,  'L-x\../ronlispiciuw,  front  view. 
2  Related  to,  but  not  identical  with,  jueen. 


78  WORDS  AND  MEANINGS 

mate  was  once  obedient,  the  word  being  cognate  with 
Ger.  biegsaiHy  flexible,  yielding — 

"  The  place  where  thou  and  Death 
Shall  dwell  at  ease,  and  up  and  down  unseen 
Wing  silently  the  buxom  air." 

{Paradise  Lost^  ii.  840.) 

An  obedient  nature  is  "buxom,  blithe  and  debonair," 
qualities  which  affect  the  physique  and  result  in 
heartiness  of  aspect  and  a  comely  plumpness.  An 
arcJi  damsel  is  etymologically  akin  to  an  ^xr^r/^bishop, 
both  descending  from  the  Greek  prefix  apxi,  from  apx*i> 
a  beginning,  first  cause.  Shakespeare  uses  arch  as  a 
noun —        -  .  ^ 

"The  noble  duke  my  master, 
My  worthy  arch  and  patron  comes  to-night." 

{Lear^  ii.  i.) 

Occurring  chiefly  in  such  phrases  as  arch  enemy,  arch 
heretic,  arch  hypocrite,  arch  rogue,  it  acquired  a 
depreciatory  sense,  which  has  now  become  so  weakened 
that  archness  is  by  no  means  an  unpleasing  attribute. 
The  same  double  meaning  is  developed  in  the  cognate 
German  prefix  Ers^  so  that  we  find,  in  Ludwig,  as 
successive  entries,  Ertz-dieb^  "an  arch-thief,  an  arrant 
thief,"  and  Ertz-engel^  "an  arch-angel."  The  meaning 
of  arrant  is  almost  entirely  due  to  association  with 
"  thief."  It  means  lit.  wandering,  vagabond,  so  that  the 
arrant  thief  is  nearly  related  to  the  knight  errant^  and 
to  the  Justices  in  eyre.  Old  Fr.  eire,  Lat.  iter,  a  way, 
journey.  Fr.  errer,  to  wander,  stray,  is  compounded  of 
Vulgar  Lat.  iterare,  to  journey,  and  Lat.  errare,  to  stray, 
and  it  would  be  difficult  to  calculate  how  much  of  each 
enters  into  the  composition  oi  le  Juif  errant. 

As  I  have  suggested  above,  association  accounts  to 
some  extent  for  changes  of  meaning,  but  the  process  is 


PLUCK— SCAVENGER  77 

in  reality  more  complex,  and  usually  a  number  of 
factors  are  working  together  or  in  opposition  to  each 
other.  A  low  word  may  gradually  acquire  right  of 
citizenship.  "That  article  blackguardly  called  pluck'' 
(Scott)  is  now  much  respected.  It  is  the  same  word  as 
plucky  the  heart,  liver,  and  lungs  of  an  animal — 

"During  the  Crimean  war,  plucky^  signifying  courageous, 
seemed  likely  to  become  a  favourite  lerm  in  Mayfair,  even  among 
the  ladies."     (Hotten's  Slang  D:citor..an\^  1864.) 

Having  become  respectable,  it  is  nov/  replaced  in 
sporting  circles  by  the  more  emphatic  gnts^  which 
reproduces  the  original  metaphor.  A  word  may  die 
out  in  its  general  sense,  surviving  only  in  some  special 
meaning.  Thus  the  poetic  sivard,  scarcely  used  except 
with  "green,"  meant  originally  the  skin  or  crust  of 
anything.  It  is  cognate  with  Ger.  ScJiwarte^  "  the 
"s-zvavd,  or  rind,  of  a  thing"  (Ludwig),  which  now  means 
especially  bacon-rind.  Related  words  may  meet  with 
very  different  fates  in  kindred  languages.  Eng.  kiiight 
is  cognate  with  Ger.  Ktiechf^  servant,  which  had,  in 
Mid.  High  German,  a  wide  range  of  meanings, 
including  "warrior,  hero."  There  is  no' more  compli- 
mentary epithet  than  knightly,  while  Ger.  hiecJitisch 
means  servile.  The  degeneration  of  words  like  booi\ 
churl,  farmer,  is  a  familiar  phenomenon  (cf  villaiii, 
p.  139).  The  same  thing  has  happened  to  blackguard^ 
the  modern  meaning  of  which  is  a  libel  on  a  humble  but 
useful  class.  The  name  black  guard  was  given 
collectively  to  the  kitchen  detachment  of  a  great 
man's  retinue.  The  scavenger  has  also  come  down  in 
the  world,  rather  an  unusual  phenomenon  in  the  case 
of  official    titles.      The    rnQditVcil  '  scavager'^    was    an 

^  English   regularly   inserts   n   in  words   thus   formed  ;    cf.  harbinger^ 
messenger,  passenger^  poUinger,  etc. 


4^ 


7S  WORDS  AND  MEANINGS 

important  official  who  originally  seems  to  have  been  a 
kind  of  inspector  of  customs.  He  was  called  in  Anglo- 
French  sca7vagco2ir,  from  the  noun  scaivage^  showing. 
The  Old  French  dialect  verb  escaiiwer  is  of  Germanic 
origin  and  cognate  with  Eng.  show  and  Ger.  schauen,  to 
look.  The  cheater^  now  usually  cheats  probably  deserved 
his  fate.  The  escheators  looked  after  escheats^  i.e.,  estates 
or  property  that  lapsed  and  were  forfeited.  The  origin  of 
the  word  is  Old  Fr.  escheoir  {/choir),  to  fall  due,  Lat.  ex 
^cadere  for  cadere.  Their  reputation  was  unsavoury,  and 
cheat  has  already  its  present  meaning  in  Shakespeare. 
He  also  plays  on  the  double  meaning — 

"  1  will  be  cheater  to  them  both,  and  they  shall  be  exchequers 
to  me."     {Merry  Wives,  i.  3.) 

Beldatn  implies  "  hag "  as  early  as  Shakespeare,  but 
he  also  uses  it  in  its  proper  sense  of  "grandmother," 
e.g.,  Hotspur  refers  to  "old  beldam  earth"  and  "our 
grandam  earth"  in  the  same  speech  (i  Henry  IV.,  iii.  i), 
and  Milton  speaks  of  "  <^^/<^^;;/ nature."  It  is  of  course 
from  helle-danie,  used  in  Old  French  for  "  grandmother," 
as  belsire  v^as  for  "  grandfather."  Hence  it  is  a  doublet 
of  belladonna.  The  masculine  belsire  survives  as  a 
family  name.  Belcher;  and  to  Jim  Belcher,  most 
gentlemanly  of  prize  -  fighters,  we  owe  the  belcher 
handkerchief,  which  had  large  white  spots  with  a 
dark  blue  dot  in  the  centre  of  each  on  a  medium 
blue  ground.  It  was  also  known  to  the  "  fancy "  as  a 
"bird's-eye  wipe." 


CHAPTER   VII 

SEMANTICS 

The  convenient  name  semantics  has  been  applied  of 
late  to  the  science  of  meanings,  as  distinguished  from 
phonetics,  the  science  of  sound.  The  comparative 
study  of  languages  enables  us  to  observe  and  codify 
the  general  laws  which  govern  sense  development,  and 
to  understand  why  meanings  become  extended  or 
restricted.  One  phenomenon  which  seems  to  occur 
normally  in  language  results  from  what  we  may  call 
the  simplicity  of  the  olden  times.  Thus  the  whole 
vocabulary  which  is  etymologically  related  to  icn'tzn^  and 
books  has  developed  from  an  old  Germanic  verb  that 
means  to  scratch  and  the  Germanic  name  for  the  beecli. 
Our  earliest  books  were  wooden  tablets  on  which 
inscriptions  were  scratched.  The  word  book  itself 
comes  from  Anglo-Sax.  boc^  beech;  cf.  Ger.  BucJistabe^ 
letter,  lit.  beech-stave.  Lat.  liber^  book,  whence  a  large 
family  of  words  in  the  Romance  languages,  means  the 
inner  bark  of  a  tree,  and  bible  is  ultimately  from  Greek 
/Sv^Xog,  the  inner  rind  of  the  papynis,  the  Eg}^ptian 
rush  from  which /(^/^r  was  made.^ 

The  earliest  measurements  were  calculated  from  the 
human  body.     All  European  languages  use  they^(?/,  and 

^  Parchment  (see  p.  45)  was  invented  zs>  a  substitute  when  the  supply  of 
papyrus  failed. 


30  SEMANTICS 

we  still  measure  horses  by  hands ^  while  span  survives  in 
table-books.  Ctibit  is  Latin  for  elbow,  the  first  part  of 
■which  is  the  same  as  ell,  cognate  with  Lat  tilna,  also 
used  in  both  senses.  Fr.  brasse,  fathom,  is  Lat.  brachia^ 
the  two  arms,  ^.x\^  police,  thumb,  means  inch.  A  further 
set  of  measures  are  represented  by  simple  devices : 
2Lyard\^  a  small  "stick,"  and  the  rod,  pole,  or  perch  (cf. 
percJi  for  birds,  Fr.  perche,  pole)  which  gives  charm  to 
our  arithmetic  is  a  larger  one.  A  furlotig  is  a  furrow- 
long.  For  weights  com^mon  objects  were  used,  e.g.,  a 
graifi^  or  a  scruple,  Lat.  scrtipidus^  "  a  little  sharpe  stone 
falling  sometime  into  a  man's  shooe  "  (Cooper),  for  very 
small  things,  a  stone  for  heavier  goods.  Gk.  SpaxfJ-o., 
whence  our  dram,  means  a  handful.  Our  decimal 
system  is  due  to  our  possession  of  ten  digits,  or  fingers, 
and  calctdation  comes  from  Lat  calculus,  a  pebble. 

A  modern  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  considering 
his  budget,  is  not  so  Jnear  the  reality  of  things  as  his 
medieval  predecessor,  who  literally  sat  in  his  counting- 
house,  counting  up  his  money.  For  the  exchequer, 
nam.ed  from  the  Old  Fr.  eschequier{^chiqtciei^),ch.tss-ho3.T:dj 
was  once  the  board  marked  out  in  squares  on  which  the 
treasurer  piled  up  the  king's  taxes  in  hard  cash.  This 
Old  Fr.  escliequier,  v\^hich  has  also  given  chequer,  is  a 
derivative  of  Old  Fr.  eschec  (echec),  check.  Thus  "  check 
trousers  "  and  a  ''  chequered  career "  are  both  directly 
related  to  an  eastern  potentate  (see  cJiess,  p.  ill).  The 
chancellor  himself  was  originally  a  kind  of  door-keeper 
in  charge  of  a  chancel,  a  latticed  barrier  which  we  now 
know  in  church  architecture  only.  CJiancel  is  derived, 
through  Fr.  chancel  or  cancel,  from  Lat.  cancellus,  a 
cross  bar,  occurring  more  usually  in  the  plural  in  the 
sense  of  lattice,  grating.  We  still  cancel  a  document  by 
drawing  such  a  pattern  on  it.  In  German  cancellus  has 
given  Kanzel,  pulpit.     The  budget,  now  a  document  in 


FINANCIAL  WORDS  81 

which  millions  are  mere  items,  was  the  chancellor's 
little  bag  or  purse — 

"  If  tinkers  may  have  leave  to  live, 
And  bear  the  sow-skin  budget^ 
Then  my  account  I  well  may  give, 
And  in  the  stocks  avouch  it." 

{^Winter's  Tale^  iv.  2.) 

Fr.  bougette,  from  which  it  is  borrowed,  is  a  diminutive 
of  boiige^  a  leathern  bag,  which  comes  from.  Lat  biclga^ 
"a  male  or  boiigct  of  leather;  a  purse;  a  bagge " 
(Cooper).  Modern  French  has  borrowed  back  our 
budget^  together  with  several  other  words  dealing  with 
business  and  finance. 

Among  the  most  important  servants  of  the 
exchequer  were  the  controllers.  We  now  call  them 
officially  comptroller,  through  a  mistaken  association 
with  Fr.  conipte,  account.  The  controller  had  charge  of 
the  counter-rolls  (cf  coiuiterfoil)^  from  Old  Fr.  contre-rolley 
"  the  copy  of  a  role  (of  accounts,  etc.),  a  paralell  of  the 
same  quality  and  content,  with  the  originall "  (Cotgrave). 
In  French  co7tirole  has  preserved  the  sense  of  supervision 
or  verification  which  it  has  lost  in  ordinary  English. 

A  very  ancient  functionary  of  the  exchequer,  the 
tally-cutter,  was  abolished  in  the  reign  of  George  III. 
Tallies  (Fr.  tailler^  to  cut)  were  sticks  "  scored  "  across 
in  such  a  way  that  the  notches  could  be  compared  for 
purposes  of  verification.  Jack  Cade ''preferred  those 
good  old  ways — 

"Our  fore-fathers  had  no  other  books  but  the  score  and  the 
tally  ;  thou  hast  caused  books  to  be  used." 

(2  Henry  V}\,  b:  7.V 

This  rudimentary  method  of  calculation  was  sti^i  in  use 
in  the  Kentish  hop-fields  within  fairly  recent,  txi-.ies ;  and 
some  of  us  can  remember  very  old  gentlemen  asking  us. 


82  SEMANTICS 

after  a  cricket  match,  how  many  "notches"  we  had 
"scored"— 

"  The  scorers  were  prepared  to  notch  the  runs." 

{Pickwick^  Ch.  vii.) 

This  use  oi score,  for  a  reckoning  in  general,  or  for  twenty, 
occurs  m  Anglo-Saxon.  The  words  score  and  tally,  one 
native  and  the  other  borrowed,  were  thus  originally 
of  identical  meaning.  They  were  soon  differentiated,  a 
common  phenomenon  in  such  cases.  For  the  exchequer 
tally  was  substituted  an  "  indented  cheque  receipt."  An 
indenttcre,  chiefly  familiar  to  us  in  connection  with 
apprenticeship,  was  a  duplicate  document  of  which  the 
"  indented  "  or  toothed  edges  had  to  correspond  like  the 
notches  of  the  score  or  tally.  Cheque,  earlier  check,  is 
identical  with  ^/2£:^/^,  rebuff.  The  metaphor  is  from  the 
game  of  chess  (see  p.  iii),  to  check  a  man's  accounts 
involving  a  sort  of  control,  or  pulling  up  short,  if 
necessary.  The  modern  spelling  cheq^ce  is  due  to 
popular  association  with  exchequer,  which  is  etymo- 
logically  right,  though  the  words  have  reached  their 
m.odern  functions  by  very  different  paths. 

The  develojpment  of  the  meaning  of  chancellor  can 
be  paralleled  in  the  case  of  many  other  functionaries, 
once  humble  but  now  important.  The  titles  of  two  great 
medieval  officers,  the  constable  and  the  jnarshal,  mean 
the  same  thing.  Constable,  Old  Fr.  conestable  {connetable), 
is  Lat.  comes  stabuli^  stable  fellow,  and  marshal,  the  first 
element  of  which  is  cognate  with  mare^  while  the 
second  is  modern  Ger.  Schalk,  rascal,  expresses  the 
sar^e  idea  in  German.  Both  constable  and  marshal  are 
now  tiser!  of  very  high  positions,  but  Policeman  X.  and 
the  farrier-marshal,  or  shoeing-smith,  of  a  troop  of 
cavalry,  ^remind  them  of  the  base  degrees  by  which  they 
did  ascend.     The  Marshalsea  where  Little  Dorrit  lived 


OFFICIxVL  TITLES  83 

is  for  inarshalsy,  marshals'  office,  etc  The  steward^  ox 
sty-ivard^  looked  after  his  master's  pigs.  He  rose  in 
importance  until,  by  the  marriage  of  Marjorie  Bruce  to 
Walter  the  Stewart  of  Scotland,  he  founded  the  most 
picturesque  of  royal  houses.  The  chamberlain,  as  his 
name  suggests,  attended  to  the  royal  comforts  long 
before  he  became  a  judge  of  wholesome  literature. 

All  these  names  now  stand  for  a  great  number  of 
functions  of  varying  im.portance.  Other  titles  which 
are  equally  vague  are  sergea?:t  (see  p.  137)  and  7isher^ 
Old  Fr.  uissier^  {h?nsszer),\\t.  door-keeper,  'L.dX.ostiarius, 
a  porter.  Another  official  was  the  harbinger,  who 
survives  only  in  poetry.  He  was  a  forerunner,  or 
vauntcourier,  who  preceded  the  great  man  to  secure 
him  "  harbourage "  for  the  night,  and  his  name  comes 
from  Old  Fr.  herberger  {Jieberger),  to  shelter.  As  late  as 
the  reign  of  Charles  W.  we  read  that — 

"On  the  removal  of  the  court  to  pass  the  summer  at  Win- 
chester, Bishop  Ken's  house,  which  he  held  in  the  right  of  his 
prebend,  was  marked  by  the  harbinger  for  the  use  of  Mrs  Eleanor 
Gwyn  ;  but  he  refused  to  grant  her  admittance,  and  she  was  forced 
to  seek  for  lodgings  in  another  place." 

.(Hawkins,  Life  of  Bishop  Ken.) 

One  of  the  most  interesting  branches  of  semantics, 
and  the  most  useful  to  the  etymologist,  deals  with  the 
study  of  parallel  metaphors  in  different  languages.  We 
have  seen  (p.  26)  how,  for  instance,  the  names  of  flowers 
show  that  the  same  likeness  has  been  observed  by 
various  races.  The  spice  called  clove  and  the  clove-pink 
both  belong  to  Lat.  claims,  a  nail.  The  German  for 
pink  is  Nelke,  a  Low  German  diminutive,  nail-kin,  of 

^  As  htissier  has  given  usher,  1  would  suggest  that  the  family  names 
Lush  and  Lusher,  which  Bardsley  (^Dict.  of  English  Surnames')  gives  up,  are 
for  Fr.  ruis  (cf.  Laporte)  and  tuissier.  In  modern  French  Lhuissier  h  not 
an  uncommon  name. 


84  SEMANTICS 

Nagel,  nail.  The  spice,  or  Gewilrznelke,  is  called  in 
South  Germany  Ndgele,  little  nail.  A  clove  of  garlic  is 
quite  a  separate  word ;  but,  as  it  has  some  interesting 
cognates,  it  may  be  mentioned  here.  It  is  so  called 
because  the  bulb  cleaves  naturally  into  segments.^  The' 
German  name  is  K7ioblaucJi^  for  Mid.  High  Ger.  klobe- 
louch^  clove  leek,  by  dissimilation  of  one  /.  The  Dutch 
doublet  is  kloofs  a  chasm,  gully,  familiar  in  South 
Africa. 

Ger.  Gift^  poison,  lit.  gift,  and  '^x,  poison^\jdX. potio^ 
potion-^  a  drink,  seem  to  date  from  treacherous  times. 
On  the  other  hand,  Ger.  Geschenk,  a  present,  means 
something  poured  out  (see  7iiL7icheon^  p.  114),  while  a  tip 
is  in  French  p07iyboire  and  in  German  Trinkgeld^  even 
when  accepted  by  a  lifelong  abstainer.  In  English  we 
"ride  a  hobbyl'  i.e.^  a  hobby-horse,  or  wooden  horse. 
German  has  the  same  metaphor,  "ein  Steckenpferd 
reiten,"  and  French  say  "enfourcher  un  dada^^  t.e.^  to 
bestride  a  g&Q-g&Q.  Hobby ^  for  Mid.  Eng.  hobin^  a  nag, 
was  a  proper  name  for  a  horse.  Like  Dobbin  and  Robin^ 
it  belongs  to  the  numerous  progeny  of  Robert. 

In  som.e  cases  the  reason  for  a  metaphor  is  not  quite 
clear  to  the  modern  mind.  The  bloodthirsty  weasel  is 
called  in  French  belettel^  little  beauty,  in  Italian  donnola\ 
and  in  Portuguese  doniriha,  little  lady,  in  Spanish 
-  comaclreja^  gossip  (Fr.  conimere,  Scot,  czim^ner),  in 
Bavarian  Schd?ztzerletn,  beautiful  little  animal,  in  Danish 
kjonne^  beautiful,  and  in  older  English  fairy.  From 
Lat.  medius  we  get  77tediastimis,  "  a  drugge  (drudge)  or 
lubber  to  doe  all  vile  service  in  the  house  ;  a  kitching 
slave"  (Cooper).     Why  this  drudge  should  have  a  name 

^  The  onicni^  Fr.  oignon^  Lat.  tinio^  uniofi-^  is  so  named  because  successive 
skins  form  an  harmonious  one-ness.     It  is  a  doublet  of  zir.icm. 

-  Perhaps  a  diminutive  of  Cj'mric  be!e^  marten,  but  felt  as  from  Fr. 
belle. 


TWEENY— SCROLL  85 

implying  a  middle  position  I  cannot  say ;  but  to-day  in 
Yorkshire  a  maid-of-all-work  is  called  a  /z£/^^;?y  (between 
maid). 

A  stock  semantic  parallel  occurs  in  the  relation 
between  age  and  respectability.  All  of  us,  as  soon  as 
we  get  to  reasonable  maturity,  lay  great  stress  on  the 
importance  of  deference  to  "  elders."  It  follows 
naturally  that  many  titles  of  more  or  less  dignity 
should  be  evolved  from  this  Idea  of  seniority.  The 
Eng.  alderman  is  obvious.  Priest,  Old  Fr.  prcstre^ 
{J>retre)y  from  Gk.  irpea-^vrepo?,  comparative  of  Trpecr^ugj 
old,  is  not  so  obvious.  In  the  Romance  languages  we 
have  a  whole  group  of  words,  ^.^.,  Fr.  sire^sieur,  seigneur  ; 
Ital.  signor,  Span,  sefior,  with  their  compounds  jfiojisieur, 
messery  etc.,  all  representing  either  senior  or  senioreni. 
Ger.  Eltern,  parents,  is  the  plural  comparative  of  alt, 
old,  and  the  first  element  of  seneschal  (see  marshal, 
p.  82)  is  cognate  with  Lat.  senex.  From  Fr.  sire  comes 
Eng.  sir,  and  from  this  was  formed  the  adjective  sirly^ 
now  spelt  stirly,  which  in  Shakespeare  still  means 
haughty,  arrogant — 

"  See  how  the  surly  Warwick  mans  the  wall." 

(3  Henry  VI.,  v.  i.) 

A  list,  in  the  sense  of  enumeration,  is  a  "  strip." 
The  cognate  German  word  is  Leiste,  border.  We  have 
the  original  meaning  in  "  list  slippers."  Fr.  bordereau, 
a  list,  which  became  very  familiar  in  connection  with 
the  Dreyfus  case,  is  a  diminutive  of  bord,  edge.  Label 
is  the  same  word  as  Old  Fr.  lambel  {Jambeaii),  rag. 
Scroll  is  a  diminutive  of  Old  Fr.  escroii}  rag,  of  German 
origin,    and    cognate   with    shred  and    screed.     Docket, 

^  Cf.  Prester  John,  the  fabulous  priest  monarch  of  Ethiopia. 
-  Cf.  lordly^  princely^  etc.,  and  Ger.  herrisch^  imperious,  from  Herr^  sir. 
^  Modern  Fr.  icroii  is  used  only  in  the  sense  of  prison  register. 

F  2 


86  SEMANTICS 

earlier  dogget,  is  from  an  old  Italian  diminutive  oi  doga, 
cask-stave,  which  meant  a  bendlet  in  heraldry.  Schedule 
is  a  diminutive  of  Lat.  scheda,  "  a  scrowe "  (Cooper), 
properly  a  strip  of  papyrus.  Ger.  Zettel,  bill,  ticket,  is 
the  same  word.  Thus  all  these  words,  more  or  less 
kindred  in  meaning,  can  be  reduced  to  the  primitive 
notion  of  strip  or  scrap. 

Farce,  from  French,  means  stuffing.  The  verb  to 
farcCy  which  represents  Lat.  farch^e,  survives  in  the  per- 
verted force -r^Q^X,  A  parallel  is  satire,  from  Lat. 
salura  {lanx),  a  full  dish,  hence  a  medley.  Somewhat 
similar  is  the  modern  meaning  of  magazine,  a  "store- 
house" of  amusement  or  information. 

The  closest  form  of  intimacy  is  represented  by 
community  of  board  and  lodging,  or,  in  older  phrase- 
ology, "  bed  and  board."  Covipanion,  with  its  numerous 
related  words,  belongs  to  Vulgar  Lat.  '^conipanio^ 
companion-,  bread-sharer.  The  same  idea  is  represented 
by  the  pleonastic  Eng.  messmate,  the  second  part  of 
which,  mate,  is  related  to  meat.  Mess,  food.  Old  Fr. 
mes  {inets^,  Lat.  missum,  is  in  modern  English  only 
military  or  naval — 

"  Herbs  and  other  country  messes 
Which  the  neat-handed  Phillis  dresses." 

{Allegro,  85.) 

Another  related  word  is  Fr.  matelot,  earlier  matenoty 
representing  Du.  maat,  meat,  and  genoot,  a  companion. 
The  latter  word  is  cognate  with  Ger.  Genosse,  a 
companion,  from  geniessen,  to  enjoy  or  use  together. 
In  early  Dutch  we  find  also  mattegejioet,  through 
popular  association  with  matte,  hammock,  one  hammock 
serving,  by  a  Box  and  Cox  arrangement,  for  two  sailors. 
Comrade  is  from  Fr.  caniarade,  and  this  from  Span. 
camarada,  originally  a  "  room-full,"  called  in  the  French 
army  U7ie  cJiajnbrde.     This  corresponds  to  Ger.  Geselle, 


CHUM— CUMMER  87 

comrade,  from  Saal,  room.  The  reduction  of  the  col- 
lective to  the  individual  is  paralleled  by  Ger.  Bursche^ 
fellow,  from  Mid.  High  Ger.  burse,  college  hostel  ;  cf. 
FraiLenzivimer^  wench,  lit.  women's  room.  It  can  hardly 
be  doubted  that  chum  is  a  corrupted  clip  from  cJiamber- 
felloiv}  It  is  thus  explained  in  a  Dictionary  of  the 
Canting  Crew  (1690),  within  a  few  years  of  its  earliest 
recorded  occurrence,  and  the  reader  will  remember  Mr 
Pickwick's  introduction  to  the  clnufunage  system  in  the 
Fleet. 

English  gossipy  earlier  god-sib,  related  in  God,  a 
sponsor,  soon  developed  the  subsidiary  meanings  of 
boon  companion,  crony,  tippler,  babbler,  etc.,  all  of 
which  are  represented  in  Shakespeare.  The  case  of 
Fr.  ccnnpere  and  co7nmere,  godfather  and  godmother,  is 
similar.  Cotgrave  explains  coyywierage  as  "gossiping; 
the  acquaintance,  affinity,  or  league  that  growes 
betweene  women  by  christning  a  child  together,  or 
one  for  another."  Ger.  Gevatter,  godfather,  has  also 
acquired  the  sense  of  Fr.  boyiJiom^ne,  Eng.  daddy.  From 
commere  comes  Scot,  cummer  or  kz??i7ner — 

"'Tis  merry,  'tis  merr)^,  Cununers,  I  trow. 
To  dance  thus  beneath  the  nightshade  bough." 

(INGOLDSBY,  The  Witched  Frolic) 

While  christenings  led  to  cheerful  garrulity,  the  wilder 
fun  of  weddings  has  given  the  Fr.  faire  la  7ioc€,  to  go  on 

^  The  vowel  is  not  so  great  a  difficulty  as  it  isight  appear.  In  the 
London  pronunciation  the  u  of  such  vrords  as  lui^  cup^  hurry^  etc.,  represents 
roughly  a  continental  short  a.  This  fact,  familiar  to  phoneticians  but 
disbelieved  by  others,  is  one  of  the  firs:  peculiarities  noted  by  foreigners 
beginning  to  learn  English.  It  is  quiie  possible  that  chum  is  an 
accidental  spelling  for  *cham,  just  as  we  write  bungalciv  for  hangla  (Bengal), 
pwidit  lor  pandit,  and  Punjauh  for  Punjab,  five  rivers,  whence  also  probably 
the  liquid  called  punch,  from  its  five  ingredients.  Cf.  also  American  to 
slug^  i.e.  to  slog,  which  appears  to  represent  Du.  slag,  blow — "That  was  for 
slugging  the  guard  "  (Kipling,  An  Error  in  the  Fourth  Dimension) — and 
the  adjective  l/htff,  from  obsolete  Du.  ll^f,  troad-faced. 


88  SEMANTICS 

the  spree.     In   Ger.  Hochzeit,  wedding,  lit.  high   time, 
we  have  a  converse  development  of  meaning. 

Parallel  sense  development  in  different  languages 
sometimes  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  the  life  of  our 
ancestors.  Our  verb  to  cttrry  (leather)  comes  from 
Old  Fr.  carreer'^  {courroye-r)^  to  make  ready,  put  in 
order,  which  represents  a  theoretical  ^con-rcd-are^  the 
root  syllable  of  which  is  Germanic  and  cognate  with 
om  ready.  Gqt.  gerben^^o  tan.  Old  High  G&r.  garawe7i, 
to  make  ready,  is  a  derivative  of  gary  ready,  complete, 
now  used  only  as  an  adverb  meaning  "quite,"  but 
cognate  with  our  y are — 

"  Our  ship — 
Which,  but  three  glasses  since,  we  gave  out  split — 
Is  tight,  ?indyare^  and  bravely  rigg'd." 

{Tempest J  v.  i.) 

Both  words  must  have  acquired  their  restricted  meaning 
at  a  time  v/hen  there  was  literally  nothing  like  leather. 

Even  in  slang  we  find  the  same  parallelism  exempli- 
fied. We  call  an  old-fashioned  watch  a  tur^iip.  In 
German  it  is  called  Zwiebel^  onion,  and  in  Fr.  oig7ton, 
Eng.  greenhorn  likens  an  inexperienced  person  to  an 
animal  whose  horns  have  just  begun  to  sprout.  In  Ger. 
Gelbschnabely  yellow  bill,  and  Fr.  bec-Jaime,  we  have 
the  metaphor  of  the  fledgling.  Ludwig  explains 
GelbscJmabel  by  ''  chitty-face,"  chit^  cognate  with  /6//-ten, 
being  a  general  term  in  Mid.  English  for  a  young 
animal.  From  bec-jaime  we  have  Scot,  beejani^  freshman 
at  the  university.  Cotgrave  spells  the  French  word 
bejaune,  and  gives,  as  he  usually  does  for  such  words,^ 

^  Array ^  Old  Fr.  arreer,  is  related. 

-  This  is  a  characteristic  of  the  old  dictionary  makers.  The  gem  of  my 
collection  is  Ludwig's  gloss  for  Liimrnel^  *'  a  long  lubber,  a  lazy  lubber,  a 
slouch,  a  lordant,  a  lordane,  a  looby,  a  booby,  a  tony,  a  fop,  a  dunce,  a 
simpleton,  a  wise-acre,  a  sot,  a  logger-head,  a  block-head,  a  nickampoop,  a 


SLANG  89 

a  very  full  gloss,  which  happens,  by  exception,  to  be 
quotable — 

"A  novice  ;  a  late  prentice  to,  or  young  beginner  in,  a  trade, 
or  art;  also,  a  simple,  ignorant,  unexperienced,  asse  ;  a  rude, 
unfashioned,  home-bred  hoydon  ;  a  sot,  ninny,  doult,  noddy  ;  one 
that's  blankt,  and  hath  nought  to  say,  when  he  hath  most  need 
to  speake." 

The  Englishman  intimates  that  a  thing  has  ceased 
to  please  by  saying  that  he  is  "  fed  up "  with  it.  The 
Frenchman  says  "J'en  ai  soupe."  Both  these  meta- 
phors are  quite  modern,  but  they  express  in  flippant 
form  the  same  figure  of  physical  satiety  which  is  as  old  as 
language.  Padding  is  a  comparatively  new  word  in  con- 
nection with  literary  composition,  but  it  reproduces, 
with  a  slightly  different  meaning,  the  figure  expressed  by 
bombast^  lit.  wadding,  a  derivative  of  Greco-Lat.  bG7nbyx, 
originally  "silkworm,"  whence  also  bovibasi?ie.  We 
may  compare  also  "fzcstian  eloquence  " — 

"And  he,  whose /us /tan's  so  sublimely  bad, 
It  is  not  poetry,  but  prose  run  mad." 

(Pope,  Prologue  io  the  Satires,  1.  187.) 

And  a  very  similar  image  is  found  in  the  Latin  poet 
Ausonius — 

"  At  nos  illepidum,  rudem  libellum, 
Burros,  quisquilias  ineptiasque 
Credemus  gremio  cui  fovendum?" 

{Drepanin  Filio.) 

Even  to  "  take  the  cake  "  is  paralleled  by  the  Gk.  Xa/3eiu 
Tov  irvpa^xovvTa,  to  be  awarded  the  cake  of  roasted 
wheat  and  honey  which  was  originally  the  prize  of  him 
who  best  kept  awake  during  a  night-watch. 

lingerer,  a  drowsy  or  dreaming  lusk,  a  pill-garlick,  a  slowback,  a  lathback  a 
pitiful  sneaking  fellow,  a  lungis,  a  tall  slim  fellow,  a  slim  longback,  a  great 
he-fellow,  a  lubberly  fellow,  a  lozel,  an  awkward  fellow." 


90  SEMANTICS 

In  the  proverbial  expressions  which  contain  the  con- 
centrated wisdom  of  the  ages  we  ■  sometimes  find  exact 
correspondences.  Thus  "  to  look  a  gift-horse  in  the 
mouth  "is  literally  reproduced  in  French  and  German. 
Sometimes  the  symbols  vary,  e.g.^  the  risk  one  is  exposed 
to  in  acquiring  goods  without  examination  is  called  by 
us  "  buying  a  pig  in  a  poke."  ^  French  and  German 
substitute  the  cat.  We  say  that  "a  cat  may  look  at 
a  king."  The  French  dramatis  personce  are  a  dog  and 
a  bishop,  while  German  r^scognises  no  such  subversive 
aphorism.  ' 

Every  language  has  an  immense  number  of  metaphors 
to  describe  the  various  stages  of  intoxication.  We,  as  a 
seafaring  nation,  have  naturally  a  set  of  such  metaphors 
taken  from  nautical  English.  In  French  and  German 
the  state  of  being  "half-seas  over"  or  "three  sheets  in 
the  wind,"  and  the  action  of  "splicing  the  main  brace" 
are  expressed  by  various  land  metaphors.  But  the 
more  obvious  nautical  figures  are  common  property. 
W^e  speak  of  being  stranded ;  French  says  "  ^chotier  (to 
run  ashore)  dans  une  entreprise,"  and  German  uses 
scheitern^  to  strand,  .split  on  a  rock,  in  the  same 
way. 

Finally,  we  observe  the  same  principle  in  euphemism, 
or  that  form  of  speech  which  avoids  calling  things  by 
their  names.  Euphemism  is  the  result  of  various  human 
instincts  v/hich  range  from  religious  reverence  down 
to  common  decency.  There  is,  however,  a'  special 
type  of  euphemism  which  may  be  described  as  the 
delicacy  of  the  partially  educated.  It  is  a  matter 
of  common  observation  that  for  educated  people  a 
spade  is  a  spade,  while  the  more  outspoken  class 
prefers  to  call  it  a  decorated  shovel.      Between  these 

^  Poke^  sack,  is  still  common  in  dialect,  e.g.  in  the  Kentish  hop-fields. 
It  is  a  doublet  ol pottc/iy  and  its  diminutive  \s pocket. 


EUPHEMISM  AND  PRUDISHNESS  91 

V  two  classes  come  those  delicate  beings  whose  work  in 
life  is — 

"le  retranchement  de  ces  syllabes  sales 
Qui  dans  les  plus  beaux  mots  produisent  des  scandales  ; 
Ces  jouets  etemels  des  sots  de  tous  les  temps  ; 
Ces  fades  lieux-communs  de  nos  mechants  plaisants  ; 
Ces  sources  d'un  amas  d'equivoques  infames, 
Dent  on  vient  faire  insulte  a  la  pudeur  des  femmes." 

(MOLIERE,-  Les  Femmes  savantes^  ill.  2.)  ^ 

In  the  United  States  refined  society  has  succeeded 
in  banning  as  improper  the  word  leg,  which  must  now 
be  replaced  by  limb,  even  when  the  possessor  is  a  boiled 

'fowl/ and  this  refinement  is  not  unknown' in  England. 
This  tendency  shows  itself  especially  in  connection  with 
the  more  intimate  garments  and  articles  intended  for 
personal  use.  We  have  the  absurd  name  •  pocket 
handkerchief,  i.e.,  pocket  hand  cover-head,  for  a  com- 
paratively modern  convenience,  the  earlier  names  of 
which  have  more  of  the  directness  of  the  Artful  Dodger's 
"wipe."     Ben  Jonson  calls  it  a  muckinder.     In  1829  the 

,  use  of  the  word  inonchoir  in  a  French  adaptation  of 
Othello  caused  a  riot  at  the  Comedie  Francaise.  History 
repeats  itself,  for,  in  1907,  a  play  by  J.  M.  Synge  was 
produced  in  Dublin,  but  the  "audience  broke -up  in 
disorder  at  the  o^vord  shift"  {The  Academy,  14th  Oct. 
191 1).  This  is  all  the  more  ludicrous  when  we  reflect 
that  sliift,  i.e.  change  of  "raiment,  is  itself  an  early 
euphemism  {ox  s7nock  ;  cf  Ital.  vmtajide,  '' thihne  under- 
breeches"  (Florio),  from  a  country  and  century  not 
usually  regarded  as  prudish.  The  fact  is  that,  just 
as  the  low  word,  when  once  accepted,  loses. its  primitive 

^  The  coloured  ladies  of  Barbados  appear  to  have  been  equally  sensi- 
tive.— "  Fate  had  placed  me  opposite  to  a  fine  turkey.  I  asked  my  partner 
if  I  should  have  the  pleasure  of  helping  her  to  a  piece  of  the  breast.  She 
looked  at  me  indignantly,  and  said,  '  Curse  your  impudence,  sar  ;  I  wonder 
where  you  lam  manners.     Sar,  I  take  a  lilly  turkey  bosom,  if  you  please.'  " 

iPeUr  Simple,  Ch.li:) 


92  SEMANTICS 

vigour  (see  p/tick,  p.  77),  the  euphemism  is,  by  inevitable 
association,  doomed  from  its  very  birth. 

I  will  now  give  a  few  examples  of  the  way  in  which 
the  study  of  semantics  helps  the  etymologist.  The 
antlers  of  a  deer  are  properly  the  lowest  branches  of  the 
horns,  what  we  now  call  brow-antlers.  The  v/ord  comes 
from  Old  Fr  antoillierSy  which  answers  phonetically  to 
a  conjectured  Lat.  ^'ante-oailares,  from  oculus,  eye. 
This  conjecture  is  confirmed  by  the  Ger.  AugensprossCy 
brow-antler,  lit.  eye-sprout. 

Eng.  plover^  from  Fr.  pluvier,  could  come  from  a 
Vulgar  Lat.  "^phiviarius^  belonging  to  rain.  The  German 
name  Regenpfeifer^  lit.  rain-piper,  shows  this  to  be 
correct.  It  does  not  matter,  etymologically,  whether 
the  bird  really  has  any  connection  with  rain,  for  rustic 
observation,  interesting  as  it  is,  is  essentially  unscientific. 
The  //(9;/4>'suckle  is  useless  to  the  bee.  The  sloiv-zvorin, 
a  corrupted  form  for  slaywonn^  strike  serpent,^  is  perfectly 
harmless,  and  the  toad,  though  ugly,  is  not  venomous, 
nor  diOes  he  bear  a  jewel  in  his  head. 

Kcsti'el,  a  kind  of  hawk,  represents  Old  Fr.  qicercerelle 
{crecerelle), "  a  kastrell "  (Cotgrave).  Crecerelle  is  a  diminu- 
tive of  crecelle^  a  rattle,  used  in  Old  French  especially 
of  the  leper's  rattle  or  clapper,  with  which  he  warned 
people  away  from  his  neighbourhood.  It  is  connected 
with  Lat.  crepare^  to  resound.  The  Latin  name  for  the 
kestrel  is  linnunaclus,  lit.  a  little  ringer,  derived  from  the 
verb  tinnire,  to  clink,  jingle,  "  tintinnabulate."  Cooper 
tells  us  that  '*  they  use  to  set  them  (kestrels)  in  pigeon 
houses,  to  make  doves  to  love  the  place,  bicause  they 
feare  away  other  haukes  with  their  ringing  voyce." 
This  information  is  obtained  from  the  Latin  agriculturist 

*  The  meaning  oiworm  has  degenerated  since  the  days  of  the  Lindwurm^ 
the  dragon  slain  by  Siegfried.  The  Norse  form  survives  in  Great  Ormc's 
Heady  the  dragon's  head. 


AKIMBO— DEMURE  93 

Columella.  This  parallel  makes  it  clear  that  Fr.  crecerelle^ 
kestrel,  is  a  metaphorical  application  of  the  same  word, 
meaning  a  leper's  "  clicket." 

The  curious  word  akmibo  occurs  first  in  Mid.  English 
in  the  form  i7t  kenebowe.  In  half  a  dozen  languages  we 
find  this  attitude  expressed  by  the  figure  of  a  jug-handle, 
or,  as  it  used  to  be  called,  a  pot-ear.  The  oldest 
equivalent  is  Lat.  ayisatics^  used  by  Plautus,  from  ayisa^ 
a  jug-handle.  Ansatiis  hojno  is  explained  by  Cooper  as 
"  a  man  with  his  arms  on  kenbowT  The  French  for  to 
stand  with  arms  akimbo  is  "  faire  le  pot  a  deux  ansesl' 
and  the  same  striking  image  occurs  in  German,  Dutch, 
and  Spanish.  Hence  it  seems  a  plausible  conjecture 
that  kenebowe  means  "jug-handle."  This  is  confirmed 
by  the  fact  that  Dryden  translates  ansce  by  "kimbo 
handles,"  while  Thomas'  Latin  Dictionary  (1644) 
explains  ansatus  homo  as  "  one  that  in  bragging  manner 
strowteth  up  and  down  with  his  armes  a-ca?ine-bowy 
Eng.  bozv,  meaning  anything  bent,  is  used  in  many  con- 
nections for  handle.  The  first  element  may  be  can^ 
applied  to  every  description  of  vessel  in  earlier 
English,  as  it  still  is  in  Scottish,  or  it  may  be  some 
Scandinavian  word.  In  fact  the  whole  compound  may  be 
Scandinavian. 

Demure  has  been  explained  as  from  Mid.  Eng.  vmre, 
ripe,  mature,  with  prefixed  de.  But  demure  is  the 
older  word  of  the  two,  and  while  the  loss  of  the 
atonic  first  syllable  is  normal  in  English  (pp.  56-60),  it 
would  be  hard  to  find  a  case  in  which  a  meaningless 
prefix  has  been  added.  Nor  does  the  meaning  of 
de^nure  approximate  very  closely  to  that  of  ripe.  It 
now  has  a  suggestion  of  slyness,  but  in  Milton's  time 
meant  sedate — 

"  Come,  pensive  nun,  devout  and  pure, 
Sober,  stedfast,  and  demurey     {Penseroso^  I.  31.) 


94  SEMANTICS 

and  its  oldest  meaning  is  calm,  settled,  used  of  the  sea. 
When  we  consider  that  it  is  nearly  equivalent  to  staid, 
earlier  stayed,  and  compare  the  equivalent  terms  in 
other  languages,  e.g.,  Lat  sedatus,  Fr.  rassis,  Ger.  geseizt, 
etc.,  it  seems  likely  that  it  is  formed  from  the  Old 
Norman  de^nurer  {denieurer),  to  stay,  just  as  stale  is 
formed  from  estaler  {etaler),  to  display  on  a  stall,  or 
trove,  in  "treasure  trove, ^^  from  trover  {trouve7'\ 

The  origin  of  lugger  is  unknown,  but  the  word  is 
recorded  a  century  later  than  lugsazl,  whence  it  is 
probably  derived.  The  explanation  of  higsail  as  a 
sail  that  is  lugged  seems  to  be  a  piece  of  folk-etymology. 
The  French  for  lugsail  is  voile  de  fortune,  and  a  still 
earlier  name,  which  occurs  in  Tudor  English,  is  bona- 
venture,  i.e.,  good  luck.  Hence  it  is  not  unreason- 
able to  conjecture  that  higsail  stands  for  *hick-sail^ 
just  as  the  name  Higson  stands  for  Hickson  (see 
p.  1 60). 

The  pips  on  cards  or  dice  have  nothing  to  do  with 
apple  pips.  The  oldest  spelling  is  peeps}  In  the 
Germanic  languages  they  are  called  "  eyes,"  and  in  the 
Romance  languages  "  points " ;  and  the  Romance 
derivatives  of  Lat.  punctiis,  point,  also  mean  ^^ peep  of 
day."  Hence  the  peeps  are  connected  with  the  verb  to 
peep. 

The  game  called  doininos  is  French,  and  the  name 
is  taken  from  the  phrase  faire  domino,  to  win  the  game. 
Domino,  a  hooded  cloak  worn  by  priests  in  winter,  is  an 
Italian  word,  obviously  connected  with  Lat.  do?ninus. 
French  also  has,  in  various  games,  the  phrase y^/;-^  capot 
with  a  meaning  like  that  oi  faire  domino.  Capot,  related 
to  Eng.  cap  and  Fr.  chapeau,  means  properly  a  hooded 
cloak.  The  tv/o  metaphors  are  quite  parallel,  but  it  is 
impossible  to  say  what  was  the  original  idea.     Perhaps 

1   Tdming  of  the  Shrew,  i.  2. 


GLEEK— SENTRY  95 

it  was  that  of  extinguishing  the  opponent  by  putting, 
as  it  were,  his  head  in  a  bag. 

The  card  game  called  gleck  is  often  mentioned  in 
Tudor  literature.  It  is  derived  from  Old  Fr.  glic,  used 
by  Rabelais,  and  the  word  is  very  common  in  the  works 
of  the  more  disreputable  French  poets  of  the  15th 
century.  According  to  French  archaeologists  it  was 
also  called  bonheur^  chance,  forttcrie^  and  hasard.  Hence 
it  represents  in  all  probability  Ger.  Glilck,  luck.  The 
Old  Fr.  form  ghelicqice  would  correspond  to  Mid.  High 
Ger.  gelilcke.  The  history  of  tennis  (p.  9)  and  trump 
(p.  8)  shows  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  find  the 
German  word  recorded  in  the  same  sense. 

The  word  sentry^  which  occurs  in  English  only,  has 
no  connection  at  all  with  sentinel^  the  earliest  form  of 
which  is  Ital.  sentinella,  of  unknown  origin.  The  older 
lexicographers  obscured  the  etymology  of  sentry^  which 
is  really  quite  simple,  by  always  attempting  to  treat  it 
along  with  sentinel.  It  is  a  common  phenomenon  in 
-military  language  that  the  abstract  name  of  an  action 
is  applied  to  the  building  or  station  in  which  the  action 
is  performed,  then  to  the  group  of  men  thus  employed, 
and  finally  to  the  individual  soldier.  Thus  Lat.  custodia 
means  (i)  guardianship,  (2)  a  ward-room,  watch-tower, 
(3)  the  watch  collectively,  (4)  a  watchman.  Fr.  vigic^ 
the  look-out  man  on  board  ship,  can  be  traced  back  in  a 
similar  series  of  meanings  to  Lat.  vigilia^  watching.^  A 
sentry^  now  a  single  soldier,  was  formerly  a  band  of 
soldiers — 

"What  strength,  what  art  can  then 
Suffice,  or  what  evasion  bear  him  safe 
Through  the  strict  senterics  and  stations  thick 
Of  angels  watching  round  .'' '' 

{Paradise  Lost^  ii.  410.) 

^  This  is  why  so  many  French  raihtary  terms  are  feminine,  e.g.,  recrue^ 
sentinelle^  ved^its,  etc. 


96  SEMANTICS 

and  earlier  still  a  watch-tower,  e.g.,  Cotgrave  explains 
Old  Fr.  eschaugtiette  {echangiiette)  as  "  a  sentrie,  watch- 
tower,  beacon."  The  purely  abstract  sense  survives  in 
the  phrase  "to  hcQ^  sentry ,'  i.e.  guarH — 

"  Thou,  when  nature  cannot  sleep, 
O'er  my  temples  sentry  keep." 

(Sir  T.  Browne.) 

It  is  a  contracted  form  of  sanctuary.  In  the  17th 
century  it  is  a  pretty  familiar  word  in  this  sense.^  The 
earliest  example  I  have  come  across  is  in  Nash — 

"  He  hath  no  way  now  to  slyppe  out  of  my  hands,  but  to  take 
sentrie  in  the  Hospital  of  Warwick." 

(First  Part  of  Pasquil's  Apologie,  1590.) 

Fr.  guerite,  a  sentry  box,  can  be  traced  back  in  the 
same  way  to  Old  Fr.  garir  {giie'rir),  to  save.  Cotgrave 
explains  it  as  "  a  place  of  refuge,  and  of  safe  retyrall," 
also  "a  sentrie,  or  little  lodge  for  a  sentinell,  built  on 
high."  It  is  to  this  latter  sense  that  we  owe  Eng. 
garret.  In  medieval  French  it  means  refuge,  sanctuary,. 
eg.,  "  Ceste  roche  est  Ihesucrist  meismes  qui  est  li 
refuges  et  \a  garite  aus  humbles."  ^  If  French  had  not 
borrowed  sentinelle  from  ItaWsir],  gue'rite  would  probably 
now  mean  "  sentry  " ;  c/.  the  history  of  vigie  (p.  95),  or 
of  vedette,  a  cavalry  sentry,  but  originally  "  a  prying  or 
peeping  hole  "  (Florio),  from  Ital.  vedere,  to  see. 

^  Skinner's  Etymologicon  (1671)  has  the  two  entries,  centry  ^xo  sanctuary 
and  centry  v.  sefitmel. 

-  "  This  rock  is  Jesus  Christ  himself,  who  is  the  refuge  and  sanctuary 
of  the  humble." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

METAPHOR 

Every  expression  that  we  employ,  apart  from  those 
that  are  connected  with  the  most  rudimentar^V  objects 
and  actions,  is  a  metaphor,  though  the  original  meaning 
is  dulled  by  constant  use.  Thus,  in  the  above  sentence, 
expression  means  what  is  "  squeezed  out,"  to  eyjiploy  is  to 
"twine  in"  like  a  basket  maker,  to  connect  is  to  "weave 
together,"  rudimentary  means  "  in  the  rough  state,"  and 
an  object  is  something  "  thrown  in  our  way."  A  classifica- 
'tion  of  the  metaphors  in  use  in  the  European  languages 
would  show  that  a  large  number  of  the  most  obvious 
kind,  i.e.  of  those  which  "come  to  meet"  one,  are 
common  property,  while  others  would  reflect  the  most 
striking  habits  and  pursuits  of  the  various  races.  It 
would  probably  be  found  that  in  the  common  stock  of 
simple  metaphor  the  most  important  contribution  v/ould 
come  from  agriculture,  while  in  English  the  nautical 
element  would  occur  to  an  extent  quite  unparalleled  in 
other  European  languages.  A  curious  agricultural 
metaphor  w^hich,  though  of  Old  French  origin,  now 
appears  to  be  peculiar  to  English,  is  to  rehearse,  lit.  to 
harrow  over  again  (see  hearse,  p.  68). 

Some  metaphors  are  easy  to  track.  It  does  not 
require  much  philological  knowledge  to  see  that 
astonish,   astound,   and   stu7i   all    contain    the    idea    of 

G 


98  METAPHOR 

**' thunder  -  striking,"  Vulgar  Lat.  ^ex-tojtare.  To 
embarrass  is  obviously  connected  with  bar,  and  to 
interfere  is  to  "  strike  between/'  Old  Fr.  entreferir. 
This  word  was  especially  used  in  the  i6th  century  of  a 
horse  knocking  its  legs  together  in  trotting,  "  to  inter- 
feere,  as  a  horse"  (Cotgrave).  When  we  speak  of  a 
prentice-hand,  sound  Jotcrneynian  work,  and  a  masterpiece, 
we  revive  the  medieval  classification  of  artisans  into 
learners,  qualified  workmen,  and  those  who,  by  the 
presentation  to  their  guild  of  a  finished  piece  of  work, 
v/ere  recognised  as  past  (passed)  masters. 

But  many  of  our  metaphors  are  drawn  from  pursuits 
with  which  we  are  no  longer  familiar,  or  with  arts  and 
sciences  no  longer  practised.  Disaster,  ill-starred,  and 
such  adjectives  as  jovial,  mercurial,  are  reminiscent  of 
astrology.  To  bring  a  thing  to  the  test  is  to  put  it  in 
the  alchemist's  or  metallurgist's  test  or  trying -pot 
(cf.  test-\\sb€),  Old  Fr.  test  (Jet),  which  is  related  to  Old 
Fr.  teste  {tete),  head,  from  Lat.  testa,  tile,  pot,  etc.,  used 
in  Roman  slang  for  caput.  Shakespeare  has  the 
complete  metaphor — 

**  Let  there  be  some  more  test  made  of  my  metal,^ 
Before  so  noble  and  so  great  a  figure 
Be  stamp'd  upon  it." 

{Measure for  Measure,  \.  \.^ 

The  old  butchers'  shops  v/hich  adjoin  Nottingham 
Market  Place  are  still  called  the  Shambles.  The  word 
is  similarly  used  at  Carlisle,  and  probably  elsewhere  ;  but 
to  m.ost  people  it  is  familiar  only  in  the  metaphorical 
sense  of  place  of  slaughter,  generally  regarded  as  a 
singular.  Thus  Denys  of  Burgundy  says,  "  The  beasts 
are  in  the  shambles''  {Cloister  and  Heart Ji,  Ch.  33),  really 
misusing  the  word,  which  does  not  mean  slaughter-house, 
but  the  bench  on  which  meat  is  exposed  for  sale.     It  is 

^  See  mettle,  p.  135. 


HUNTING  99 

a  very  early  loan  from  Lat.  scauimuHy  a  bench  or  form  ; 
also  explained  by  Cooper  as  "  a  step  or  grice  (see 
p.  109)  to  get  up  to  bedde."  The  same  diminutive 
form  occurs  in  Fr.  escabeau^  an  office  stool,  and  Ger. 
Schemely  a.  stool.  Fusty^  earlier  foisty,  is  no  longer 
used  in  its  proper  sense.  It  comes  from  Old  Fr.  fiisU^ 
^^ fusty ;  tasting  of  the  caske,  smelling  of  the  vessell 
wherein  it  hath  been  kept "  (Cotgrave),  a  derivative  of 
Old  Yx.fiist  {ffLt\  a  cask.i 

The  smith's  art  has  given  us  brayid-neiv^  generally 
corrupted  into  bran-new.     Shakespeare  uses  Jire-?iew — 

"You  should  then  have  accosted  her  ;  and  with  some  excellent 
]es\.s^Jire-neiu  from  the  mint,  you  should  have  banged  the  youth 
into  dumbness."     {Tivel/th  Nighty  iii.  2.) 

Modern  German  has  ficnkehiagelnetc,  spark  nail  new ; 
but  in  older  German  we  find  aXso  spanneti^  splinter?ieUy 
chip  new,  splinter  new ;  which  shows  the  origin  of  our 
spick  and  span  (new),  z>.,  spike  and  chip  new.  French 
has  toitt  battant  neuf  beating  new,  />.,  fresh  from  the 
anvil. 

Many  old  hunting  terms  survive  as  metaphors.  To 
be  at  bay,  Fr.  aux  abois,  is  to  be  facing  the  baying 
hounds.  The  fundamental  meaning  of  Old  Fr.  abater 
{aboyer),  of  obscure  origin,  is  perhaps  to  gape  at.^  Thus 
a  right  or  estate  which  is  in  abeyance  is  one  regarded 
with  open-mouthed  expectancy.  The  toils  are  Fr. 
ioileSy  lit.  cloths,  Lat.  tela,  the  nets  put  round  a  thicket 
to  prevent  the  game  from  escaping.  To  "beat  about 
the  bush"  seems  to  be   a    mixture   of  two  metaphors 

^  Lat.  fusiis,  a  staff,  cudgel,  gave  also  Old  Fr.  fust^  a  kind  of  boat, 
whence  obsolete  Eng.  foist  in  the  same  sense.  Both  meanings  seem  to  go 
back  to  a  time  when  both  casks  and  boats  ^vere  "dug  out"  instead 
of  being  built  up. 

^  Related  are  bouche  hiante,  or  hee^  mouth  agape  ;  bdilUr,  to  yawn  ;  and 
badaud,  **  a  gaping  hoydon  "  (Cotgrave,  badaidC), 


100  METAPHOR 

which  are  quite  unlike  in  meaning.  To  "beat  the 
bush"  was  the  office  of  the  beaters,  who  started  the 
game  for  others,  hence  an  old  proverb,  '*  I  will  not  beat 
the  bush  that  another  may  have  the  birds."  *'  To  go 
about  the  bush "  ,  would  seem  to  have  been  used 
originally  of  a  hesitating  hound.  The  two  expressions 
have  coalesced  to  express  the  idea  for  which  French 
says  "  y  aller  par  quatre  chemins."  Crestfallen  and 
white  feather  belong  to  the  old  sport  of  cock-fighting. 
feopardy  is  Old  Yx.jeii  partly  a  divided  game,  hence  an 
equal  encounter.  To  run  full  tilt  is  a  jousting  phrase. 
To  pounce  upon  is  to  seize  in  the  pounces^  the  old  word 
for  a  hawk's  claws.  The  ultimate  source  is  Lat. 
piingere^  to  prick,  pierce.  A  goldsmith's  p2inch  was 
also  called  a  pounce^  hence  the  verb  to  pomice^  to  make 
patterns  on  metal.  The  northern  past  participle 
pouncei^  occurs  in  pouncet-hox^  a  metal  perforated  globe 
for  scents — 

"  And  'twixt  his  finger  and  his  thumb  he  held 
h  pouncet-box^  which  ever  and  anon 
He  gave  his  nose,  and  took't  away  again." 

,.  (i  Henry  IV.,  i.  3.) 

To  the  language  of  hawking  belongs  also  haggard. 
Cotgrave  d^^n^s faulco7t  {faucon)  hagard,  as  "a  faulcon 
that  preyed  for  her  selfe  long  before  she  was  taken." 
Hence  the  sense  wild,  untameable.  The  original 
meaning  is  hedge-hawk,  the  first  syllable  representing 
Old  High  Ger.  hag,  hedge.  Hag,  a  witch,  is  of  cognate 
origin. 

The  antiquity  of  dicing  appears  in  the  history  of 
Ger.  ^^//^7^,  to  please,  originally  used  of  the  "fall"  of 
the  dice.  In  Mid.  High  German  it  is  always  used 
v/ith  wohl,  well,  or  iibel,  ill ;  e.g.,  es  gefdllt  mir  wohl,  it 
"  falls  out "  well  for  me.     There  can  be  no  reasonable 

1  Cf.  the  Stickit  Minister. 


FOWLING  101 

doubt  that  the  deuce  I  is  a  dicer's  exclamation  at  making 
the  lowest  throw,  two,  Fr.  deux.  We  still  use  de:ice_  for 
the  two  in  cards,  and  German  has  Dazis  in  both  senses. 
Tennis  has  given  us  bandy,  Fr.  haiidcr,  "  to  bandie^  at 
tennis "  (Cotgrave).  We  now  only  bandy  words  or 
reproaches,  but  Juliet  understood  the  vrord  in  its  literal 
sense — 

"  Had  she  affections  and  \\-arm  ycutcful  blood, 
She'd  be  as  swift  in  motion  as  a  ball ; 
My  words  would  bandy  her  to  my  s-^-eet  love. 
And  his  to  me."  {Rormo  and  Juliet,  ii-  5-) 

Fowling  has  given  us  cajole,  deojy,  and  trepaji.  Fr. 
cajoler,  which  formerly  meant  to  chatter  like  a  jay  in  a 
cage,  has  in  modern  French  assumed  the  meaning  of 
enjoler,  earlier  engeoler,  "  to  incage,  or  ingaole " 
(Cotgrave),  hence  to  entice.  Fr.  gedle  represents 
Vulgar  Lat  "^caveola.  Decoy,  earlier  also  coy,  is  Du. 
kooi,  cage.  The  later  form  is  perhaps  due  to  duck-coy. 
Du.  kooi,  is  also  of  Latin  origin.  It  comes,  like  Fr. 
cage,  from  Vulgar  Lat.  ^cavea,  and  has  a  doublet  kevie, 
whence  Scot,  cavie,  a  hen-coop.  T7'tpa?i  was  formerly 
trapan,  and  belongs  to  trap — 

"  Some  by  the  nose  with  fumes  trapan  'em, 
As  Dunstan  did  the  devil's  grannam," 

{Hiidiaras,  ii.  3.) 

It  is  now  equivalent  to  klduap,  />.  to  Jiab  kid^  (children), 
once  a  lucrative  pursuit.  Charles  Reade  made  use  of 
an  authentic  case  in  his  Wanderi7ig  Heir.  The  surgical 
trepan  is  a  different  word  altogether,  and  belongs  to 
Greco-Lat.  trypanon,  an  auger,  piercer.  To  allure  is  to 
bring  to  the  lure,  or  bait  To  the  same  group  of 
metaphors  belongs  iftveigle,  v/hich  corresponds,  with 
altered  prefix,  to  Fr.  aveugler,  to  blin^,  Vulgar  Lat. 
*  ab-oculare.  A  distant  relative  of  this  vv'ord  is  oo-le 
probably  Low  German   or   Dutch  ;   c/.    Ger.   licbdugebi 

G  2 


102  METAPHOR 

"  to  ogle,  to  smicker,  to  look  amorously,  to  cast  sheeps- 
eyes,  to  cast  amorous  looks  "  (Ludwig).  It  is  possible 
that  ivheedle,  the  origin  of  which  is  quite  unknown, 
belongs  here  also.  Ludwig  explains  Sc/dmge,  properly 
a  noose,  as  a  "  gin,  snare,  trap,  train,  or  ivheedle." 

The  synonymous  cozen  is  a  metaphor  of  quite 
another  kind.  Every  young  noble  who  did  the  grand 
tour  in  the  i6th  and  17th  centuries  spent  some  time 
at  Naples,  "where  he  may  improve  his  knowledge 
in  horsemanship"  (Howell,  histructioyis  for  Forreme 
Travell,  1642).  Now  the  Italian  horse-dealers  were  so 
notorious  that  Dekker,  writing  about  1600,  describes  a 
swindling  ''  horse-courser "  as  a  "  meere  jadish  Non- 
politane,"  a  play  on  Neapolitan.  The  Italian  name  is 
cozzone^  *'  a  horse-courser,  a  horse-breaker,  a  craftie 
knave  "  (Florio),  whence  the  verb  cozzonare^  "  to  have 
perfect  skill  in  all  cosenages"  (Torriano).  The  essential 
idea  of  to  cozen  in  the  Elizabethans  is  that  of  selling 
faulty  goods  in  a  bad  light,  a  device  said  to  be 
practised  by  some  horse-dealers.  At  any  rate  the 
words  for  horse-dealer  in  all  languages,  from  the  Lat. 
mango  to  the  Amer.  Jiorse-swapper^  mean  swindler  and 
worse  things.  Cozen  is  a  favourite  word  with  the 
Elizabethan  dramatists,  because  it  enables  them  to  bring 
off  one  of  those  stock  puns  that  make  one  feel  "  The 
less  Shakespeare  he" — 

"  Cousins^  indeed  ;  and  by  their  uncle  cozened 
Of  comfort,  kingdom,  kindred,  freedom,  life." 

{Richard  111.,  iv.  4.) 

In  the  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor  (iv.  5)  there  is  a 
lot  of  word  play  on  "  cousins-german  "  and  "  German 
cozeners."  An,  exact  parallel  to  the  history  of  cozen  is 
furnished  by  the  verb  to  jockey,  from  jockey,  a  horse- 
dealer,  cheat,  etc. 


HORTICULTURE  103 

Sciofi  is  a  metaphor  from  the  garden.  It  is  Fr. 
scio7i^  "a  scion;  a  young  and  tender  plant;  a  shoot, 
sprig,  or  twig"  (Cotgrave).  Ger.  Sprosslmg^  sprout- 
ling,  is  also  used  of  an  "  offshoot  "  from  a  "  stock."  We 
have  a  similar  metaphor  in  the  word  hnp.  We  now 
graft  trees,  a  misspelling  of  older  graffe,  Fr.  greffe^ 
Greco-Lat.  g7'aphmvi,  a  pencil,  from  the  shape  of  the 
slip.  The  art  of  grafting  was  learnt  from  the  Romans, 
who  had  a  post  -  classical  verb  iuiputare}  to  graft, 
which  has  given  Eng.  />;//>,  Ger.  i)}ipfen,  Fr.  enter^  and 
is  represented  in  most  other  European  languages. 
Imp  was  used  like  scioji^  but  degenerated  in  meaning. 
In  Shakespeare  it  has  already  the  somewhat  con- 
temptuous shade  of  meaning  which  we  find  in  Ger. 
Sprossling,  and  is  only  used  by  comic  characters; 
e.g.^  Pistol  calls  Prince  Plal  "  most  royal  iinp  of  fame  " 
(2  Henry  IV.,  v.  5);  but  Thomas  Cromwell,  in  his 
last  letter  to  Henry  VIH.,  speaks  of  "that  most 
noble  zmpy  the  prince's  grace,  your  most  dear  son." 
The  special  sense  of  "young  devil"  appears  to  be  due 
to  the  frequent  occurrence  of  such  phrases  as  "  Z7;!ps 
(children)  of  Satan,"  "  the  devil  and  his  imps"  etc.  Ger. 
impfen  also  means  to  vaccinate.  Our  earlier  term 
inoculate'^  originally  meant  to  graft,  and,  in  fact, 
engraft  was  also  used  in  this  sense.  The  latest  develop- 
ment of  the  metaphor  appears  in  skin  grafting. 

Zest  is  quite  obsolete  in  its  original  meaning  of  a 
piece  of  orange  peel  used  to  give  piquancy  to  wine.  It 
is  a  French  word  of  unknown  origin,  properly  applied  to 
the  inner  skin  of  fruit  and  nuts.  Cotgrave  explains  it 
as  "  the  thick  skinne,  or  filme  whereby  the  kernell  of  a 
wallnut  is  divided." 

^    Of  uncertain   origin.     Lat.   putare^  to   cut   (cf.   amputate),   or    Gk. 
?H(f>VTos,  implanted  ? 

2  From  oculus,  eye,  in  the  sense  of  bud 


CHAPTER    IX 

FOLK-ETYMOLOGY 

The  sound,  spelling,  and  even  the  meaning  of  a  word  are 
often  perverted  by  influences  to  which  the  collective  name 
of  folk-etymology  has  been  given.  I  here  use  the  term 
to  include  all  phenomena  which  are  due  to  any  kind  of 
m.isunderstanding  of  a  word.  A  word  beginning  with 
71  sometimes  loses  this  sound  through  its  being  confused 
with  the  71  of  the  indefinite  article  an.  Thus  an  adder 
and  an  atiger  are  for  a  nadder  [cf.  Ger.  Natto')  and  a 
nauger,  Mid.  Eng.  navegor^  properly  an  instrument  for 
piercing  the  7tave  of  a  wheel.  Apron  was  in  Mid.  English 
7iaprim^  from  Old  Fr.  7zapero7i,  a  derivative  oi7iappa,  cloth. 
The  aitch'ho7ie  was  formerly  the  7iache-bo7ie^  from  Old  Fr. 
7iache,  buttock,  Vulgar  Lat.  ^7iatica  for  nates.  Nache  is 
still  used  by  French  butchers.  H2i77ible-pie  is  a  popular 
perversion  of  tcnihle-pie^  ?>.,  a  pie  made  from  the  iimbles, 
or  inferior  parts  of  the  stag.  But  ttifible  is  for  earlier 
7iuinble,  Old  Fr.  7iomble^  formed,  with  dissimilation,  from 
Lat.  linnbiilus^  diminutive  of  liiinbtts,  loin  ;  cf  7iivea2t 
(p-  53)-  Thus  Jmmble-pie  has  etymologically  no  connec- 
tion with  humility.  U7npi7'e  represents  Old  Fr.  non  per 
{paz7'),  not  equal,  the  twipire  being  a  third  person  called 
in  when  two  arbitrators  could  not  agree.  This  appears 
clearly  in  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  written  in 
1431  — 

104 


MISTAKES  WITH  THE  ARTICLE  105 

"And  if  so  be  that  the  said  arbitrators  may  not  accord 
before  the  said  feast  of  Allhallows,  then  the  said  parties  by 
the  advice  abovesaid  are  agreed  to  abide  the  award  and  ordin- 
ance of  an  7ioimiper  to  be  chosen  by  the  said  arbitrators." 

For  the  sense  we  may  compare  Span.  tercerOy  "the 
third,  a  breaker,  a  mediator"  (Percyvall).  Ati  eyas 
falcon  is  for  a  ncyas  falcon,  Fr.  ?iiais^  foolish,  lit.  nestling, 
related  to  7iid^  nest.  Rosenkrantz  uses  it  in  the  literal 
sense — 

"  But  there  is,  sir,  an  aiery  of  children,  little  eyases^  that  cry 
out  on  the  top  of  question,  and  are  most  tyranically  clapped  for't." 

{Harnleij  ii.  2.) 

Somewhat  similar  is  the  loss  in  French  of  initial  a  in 
la  botitiqiie  for  V aboutiqjic^  Greco-Lat.  apotheca,  and  la 
Pouille  for  VApoiiille,  Apulia. 

Ounce^  a  kind  of  tiger-cat,  is  from  Fr.  once^  earlier 
lonce^  "  the  ou7tce^  a  ravenous  beast "  (Cotgrave),  taken 
as  Ponce.  It  is  almost  a  doublet  of  lynx.  The  opposite 
has  happened  in  the  case  of  a  7iezvt  for  an  ewt  and  a 
nick-name  for  an  eke-7zanie.  Eke^  also,  occurs  in  the 
first  stanza  of  John  Gilpin.  It  is  cognate  with  Ger. 
auch^  also,  and  Lat.  angere^  to  increase.  Nu7icle,  the 
customary  address  of  a  court  fool  to  his  superiors — 

"How  now,  mtncle !  Would  I  had  two  coxcombs  and  two 
daughters."  {Leaj\  i.  4.) 

is  for  77iine  tmcle.  We  also  find  7iaii7it.  Nonce  occurs 
properly  only  in  the  phrase  fo7'  the  no7ice^  which  is  for 
earlier  for  then  ones,  where  then  is  the  dative  of  the 
definite  article.  Family  names  like  Nash,  Nokes  are 
aphetic  for  atte7i  ash,  at  the  ash,  atten  oakes,  at  the  oaks. 
The  creation  of  such  forms  was  perhaps  helped  by  our 
tendency  to  use  initial  7t  in  Christian  names,  e.g.,  Ned 
for  Edward,  Noll  for  Oliver ^  Nell  for  Ellen. 


106  FOLK-ETYMOLOGY 

Agglutination  of  the  definite  article  is  common  in 
French,  e.g.,  litigot,  ingot,  lierre^  ivy,  for  rierre,  Lat. 
Jiedera^  and  the  dialect  Idvier^  sink,  for  ^vier,  Lat. 
aqiiarmm^  whence  Eng.  ewer.  The  derivation  of  Fr. 
landier^  andiron  is  unknov/n,  but  the  iron  of  the 
English  word  is  due  to  folk-etymology.  Such  agglutina- 
tion occurs  often  in  family  names  such  as  Langlois^  lit. 
the  Englishman,  LJmissier^  the  usher  (see  p.  83),  and 
some  of  these  have  passed  into  English,  e.g.,  Levick  for 
revegtie,  the  bishop.  The  two  words  alarm  and  alert 
include  the  Italian  definite  article.  The  first  is  Ital. 
airanne^  to  arms,  for  a  le  anne^  and  the  second  is 
airerta  for  alia  (a  la)  erta^  the  last  word  representing 
Lat.  erccta.  With  rolled  ^,  alarm  becomes  alamm^ 
whence  the  aphetic  larwn — 

"Then  we  shall  hear  their /<2r?/;;^,  and  they  ours." 

{CoriolanuSy  i.  4.) 

Ger.  Ldrniy  noise,  is  the  same  word.  In  Luther's  time 
we  also  find  A  Her  in. 

We  have  the  Arabic  definite  article  in  alcalde ^  or 
alcade,  and  alguazil^  words  of  Spanish  origin  which  are 
common  in  Elizabethan  literature.  They  are  two  old 
friends  from  the  Arabian  Nights^  the  cadi  and  the  wazir 
or  vizier.  The  Arabic  article  also  occurs  in  acton,  Old 
Fr.  aiLqueton,  now  hoqiieton,  for  al  coton,  because  origin- 
ally used  of  a  wadded  coat — 

"  But  Cranstoun's  lance,  of  more  avail. 
Pierced  through,  like  silk,  the  Borderer's  mail ; 
Through  shield,  and  jack,  and  acton  past, 
Deep  in  his  bosom  broke  at  last." 

(ScOTT,  Lay,  iii.  6.) 

In  alligator.  Span,  el  lagarto,  the  lizard,  from  Lat. 
laccrtus,  we  have  the  Spanish  definite  article.  See  also 
lariat,  p.  22. 


FALSE  SINGULARS  107 

Occasionally  we  have  what  is  apparently  the 
arbitrary  prefixing  of  a  consonant,  e.g.,  spruce  for  pnice 
(p.  44).  Dapple  gray  corresponds  so  exactly  to  Fr. 
gris  poinviele\  Mid.  Eng.  poineli gris,  Ger.  apfelgraic^  and 
Ital.  pomellato^  "spotted,  bespeckled,  pide,  dappk-gj^aie^ 
or  fleabitten,  the  colour  of  a  horse  "  (Florio),  that  it  is 
hard  not  to  believe  in  an  unrecorded  *apple-gray^ 
especially  as  we  have  daffodil  for  earlier  affodil^  i.e., 
asphodel.  Cotgrave  has  asphodile  {aspkodele),  "the 
daffadilly  affodill,  or  asphodiil,  flower."  The  playful 
elaboration  daffadowndilly  is  as  old  as  Spenser. 

A  foreign  word  ending  in  a  sibilant  is  sometimes  mis- 
taken for  a  plural.  Thus  Old  Fr.  asset:;  {assez),  enough, 
Lat  ad  satis^  has  given  Eng.  assets,  plural,  with  a 
barbarous,  but  useful,  singular  asset.  Cherry  is  for  cheris^ 
from  a  dialect  form  of  Fr.  cerise,  and  sherry  for 
sherris,  from  Xeres  in  Spain  (see  p.  46).  Falstaff  opines 
that  "  a  good\r//^rr/i--sack  ^  hath  a  twofold  operation  in 
it"  (2  Henry  IV.,  iv.  3).  Pea  is  a  false  singular  from 
older  pease,  Lat.  pisuni.  Perhaps  the  frequent  occur- 
rence of  pease-soup,  not  to  be  distinguished  from  pea- 
soup,  is  partly  responsible  for  this  mistake.  Marquee, 
a  large  tent,  is  from  Fr.  marquise.  With  this  we  may 
class  the  heathen  Chinee  and  the  Portugee.  Milton 
wrote  correctly  of — 

"The  barren  plains 
Of  Sericana,  where  Chineses  drive 
With  sails  and  wind  their  cany  waggons  light.'"' 

{Paradise  Lost,  iii.  438.) 

The  vulgarism  5^^j' for  chaise'  is  of  similar  formation. 

*  Sack,  earlier  also  seek,  is  Fr.  sec,  dry,  which,  with  spurious  /,  has  also 
'  given  Ger.  Sekt,  now  used  for  champagne. 

2  Fr.  chaise,  chair,  for  older  chaire,  now  used  only  of  a  pulpit  or  pro- 
fessorial chair,  Lat.  cathedra,  is  due  to  an  affected  pronunciation  that 
prevailed  in  Paris  in  the  i6th  century. 


108  FOLK-ETYMOLOGY 

Corp,  for  corpse,  is  also  used  provincially.  KicksJiaws 
is  really  a  singular  from  Fr.  quelqiie  chose — 

"Art  thou  good  at  these  kickshawses,  knight ?" 

{Twelfth  Night,  i.  3.) 

Cctgrave  spells  it  qtielkchoses  (s,\ .  fricandemi). 

Skate  has  a  curious  history.  It  is  a  false  singular 
from  Du.  schaats.  This  is  from  escache,  an  Old  French 
dialect  form  of  echasse,  stilt,  which  was  used  in  the 
Middle  Ages  for  a  wooden  \^g.  It  is  of  Germ.an  origin, 
and  is  related  to  shank,  Cf.,  for  the  sense  develop- 
ment, Kr\g.  patten,  from  Fr.  patin,  a  derivative  oi  patte, 
foot,  cognate  with  pai<K  Skates  are  still  called  pattens 
by  the  fenmen  of  Cambridgeshire.  We  also  had 
formerly  a  doublet  from  Old  Fr.  escache  directly,  but 
in  the  older  sense,  for  Cotgrave  has  eschasses  (echasses), 
*' stilts,  or  scatches  to  go  on."  Row,  a  disturbance, 
belongs  to  rouse,  a  jollification — 

"  The  king  doth  wake  to-night  and  takes  his  roused 

{Hamlet,  i.  4.) 

of  uncertain  origin,  but  probably  felt  as  aphetic  for 
carouse.  The  bird  called  a  wheatear  was  formerly 
called  wheatears,  a  corruption  of  a  name  best  explained 
by  its  French  equivalent  cul  blanc,  "the  bird  called 
a  whittaile"  (Cotgrave).  We  may  compare  the  bird- 
name  redstart,  where  start  means  rump. 

Conversely  a  word  used  in  the  plural  is  sometimes 
regarded  as  a  singular,  the  result  beings  a  double 
plural.  Many  Latin  neuter  plurals  were  adopted  into 
French  as  feminine  singulars,  e.g.,  corniia,  come,  horn  ; 
labra,  levre,  lip ;  vehi,  voile,  sail.  It  is  obvious  that  this 
is  most  likely  to  occur  in  the  case  of  plurals  which  are 
used  for  a  pair,  or  set,  of  things,  and  thus  have  a  kind 
of  collective  sense.     Breeches  or  breeks  is  a  double  plural, 


FALSE  PLURALS  109 

Anglo-Sax.  hrec  being  already  the  plural  of  hrdc.  In 
Mid.  English  we  still  find  breche  or  breke  used  of 
this  garment.  Scot  trezvs,  trousers,  is  really  a  singular, 
from  Fr.  troiisse.  Trousers  is  for  earlier  U'ouses^  at  first 
used  especially  in  speaking  of  the  Irish.  This  is  a 
special  use  of  Fr.  trousse,  bundle,  truss,  from  troitsser^ 
to  tuck  up.  The  ver>-  short  knickerbockers  of  pages 
were  called  trousses,  and  when  a  page  had  completed 
his  term  of  service,  he  was  said  to  quitter  les  trousses. 
Bodice  is  for  bodies^  as  pence  is  for  pennies.  Cotgrave 
explains  corset  by  "  a  paire  of  bodies  for  a  woman,"  and 
even  Harrison  Ainsworth  speaks  of  "  a  pair  of  bodice  " 
{Jack  Sheppard,  Ch.  i.>  Trace,  of  a  horse,  is  the  Old  Fr. 
plural  trais^  (traits)  of  trait,  "  a  teame-trace  "  (Cotgrave). 
Apprentice  is  the  plural  of  Fr.  apprenti,  formerly 
apprentif,  a  derivative  of  apprendre,  to  learn,  hence  a 
disciple.  Invoice  is  the  plural  of  the  obsolete  invoy, 
from  Fr.  envoi,  sending. 

In  the  Grecian  steps,  at  Lincoln,  we  have  a  popular 
corruption  of  the  common  IMid.  Eng.  and  Tudor  grece, 
grese,  plural  of  Old  Fr.  gre\  step,  from  Lat.  gradus. 
Shakespeare  spells  it  grize — 

"  Let  me  speak  like  yourself ;  and  lay  a  sentence, 
Which,  as  a  grize,  or  step,  may  help  these  lovers 
Into  your  favour." 

{Othello,  i.  3.) 

Scot,  brose,  or  brezuis,  was  in  Mid.  Eng.  browes,  from 
Old  Fr.  brouez,  plural  of  brouet,  a  word  cognate  with 
our  broth.  From  this  association  comes  perhaps  the 
use  of  broth  as  a  plural  in  some  of  our  dialects.  Porridge, 
not  originally  limited  to  oatmeal,  seems  to  be  a  mixture 
oi  pottage  and  Mid.  Eng. /^rr^/i-,  plural  of /^rr^/,  leek, 

^  The  fact  that  in  Old  French  the  final  consonant  of  the  singular 
disappeared  in  the  plunil  form  helped  to  bring  about  such  misunder- 
standings. 


110  FOLK-ETYMOLOGY 

a  diminutive  from  \.2X,  porrii^n.  Porridge  is  still  some- 
times used  as  a  plural  in  Scottish,  e.g.^  in  Stevenson's 
Kzchzappedy  Ch.  iv.,  where  David  Balfour's  uncle  says, 
"  fine,  halesome  food,  they're  grand  food,  parrichl^  and 
in  the  northern  counties  people  speak  of  taking  "  a  few 
porridge,  or  broth."  Baize,  now  generally  green,  is  for 
earlier  bayes,  the  plural  of  the  adjective  bay,  now  used 
only  of  horses ;  cf.  Du.  baai,  baize.  The  origin  of  the 
adjective  bay,  Fr.  bai,  forms  of  which  occur  in  all  the 
Romance  languages,  is  Lat.  badius,  "of  bay  colour, 
bayarde  "  (Cooper).  Hence  the  name  Bayard,  applied 
to  Fitzjames'  horse  in  The  Lady  of  the  Lake,  and  earlier 
to  the  steed  that  carried  the  four  sons  of  Aymon. 
Qtiince  is  the  plural  of  qiiin,  from  the  Norman  form  of 
Old  Fr.  coin  {coing).  Truce  is  the  plural  of  Mid.  Eng. 
trewe  wdth  the  same  meaning.  It  is  related  to  Eng. 
inie,  but,  in  this  sense,  probably  comes  to  us  from  Old 
Fr.  tritie  {treve),  truce. 

Earnest  in  the  sense  of  "  pledge  " — 

"  And,  for  an  earnest  of  a  greater  honour, 
He  bade  me,  from  him,  call  thee  Thane  of  Cawdor." 

{^Macbeth,  i.  3.) 

has  nothing  to  do  with  the  adjective  earnest.  It  is  the 
?ylid.  Eng.  ernes,  earlier  erles,  which  survives  as  arles 
in  some  of  our  dialects.  The  verb  to  earl  is  still 
used  in  Cumberland  of  "enlisting"  a  servant  with  a 
shilling  in  the  open  market.  The  Old  French  word 
was  arres  or  erres,  now  written  learnedly  arrhes,  a 
plural  from  Lat.  arrha,  "an  earnest  penny,  earnest 
money"  (Cooper).  The  existence  of  Mid.  Eng.  erles 
shows  that  there  must  have  been  also  an  Old  French 
diminutive  form.  For  the  apparently  arbitrary  change 
of  /  to  n  we  may  compare  banister  for  bahister 
(see  p.  55). 


FALSE  PLURALS  111 

The  J  esses  of  a  hawk — ■ 

"  If  I  do  prove  her  haggard/ 
Though  that  her  jesses  were  my  dear  heart-strings, 
I'd  whistle  her  off,  and  let  her  down  the  wind, 
To  prey  at  fortune." 

{JDthello,  iii.  3.) 

were  the  thongs  by  which  it  was  held  or  "  thrown  "  into 
the  air.  Jess  is  the  Old  Fr.  ^^j-,  the  plural  of  _/>/,  from 
jeter^  to  throw.  In  Colman's  Elder  BrotJier  we  read  of 
a  gentleman  who  lounged  and  chatted,  "  not  minding 
time  a  sotise"  where  souse  is  the  plural  of  Fr.  sou,  half- 
penny. From  Fr.  7)iuer,  to  moult,  Lat.  imctare^  we  get 
Fr.  mue^  moulting,  later  applied  to  the  coop  or  pen  in 
which  moulting  falcons  were  confined,  whence  the  phrase 
"  to  7new  (up)  " — 

"  More  pity,  that  the  eagles  should  be  me-u/d. 
While  kites  and  buzzards  prey  at  liberty." 

{Richard III.,  \.  i.) 

When,  in  1534,  the  royal  inezvs,  or  hawk-houses,  near 
Charing  Cross  were  rebuilt  as  stables,  the  word  acquired- 
its  present  meaning. 

ChesSf  Old  Fr.  esches  (/checs),  is  the  plural  of  check, 
Fr.  echec,  from  Persian  shah,  king.  By  analogy  with 
the  "game  of  kings,"  the  nameyW^  des  dames  was  given 
in  French  to  draughts,  still  called  da)ns  in  Scotland. 
Draught,  from  draiv,  meant  \\\  Mid.  English  a  "  move  " 
at  chess.  The  etymology  of  tuueezers  can  best  be 
made  clear  by  starting  from  French  etui,  a  case,  of 
doubtful  origin.  This  became  in  English  etwee,  or 
twee,  e.g.,  Cotgrave  explains  estui  (etui)  as  "a  sheath, 
case,  or  box  to  put  things  in  ;  and  (more  particularly) 
a  case  of  little  instruments,  as  sizzars,  bodkin,  penknife, 
etc.,  now  commonly  termed  an  ettzuee."  Such  a  case 
generally   opens   book-fashion,   each    half  being    fitted 

1  Haggard,  see  p.  100. 


112  FOLK-ETYMOLOGY 

with  instruments.  Accordingly  we  find  it  called  a 
surgeon's  "  pair  of  tweesl'  or  simply  tweese^  and  later  a 
"pair  of  izueeses"  The  implement  was  named  from 
the  case  {cf.  Fr.  houssole^  p.  117),  and  became  tweezers 
by  association  with  pincers  (Fr.  pinces^,  scissors^  etc. 

The  form  of  a  word  is  often  affected  by  association 
with  some  other  word  with  which  it  is  instinctively 
coupled.  Thus  larboard^  for  Mid.  Eng.  ladeboard,  i.e. 
loading  side,  is  due  to  starboard^  steering  side.  Bridal^ 
for  bride-ale,  from  the  liquid  consumed  at  marriage 
festivities,  is  due  to  analogy  with  betrothal,  espousal, 
etc.  Rampart  is  from  Old  Fr.  rejnpar,  a  verbal 
noun  from  reniparer,  to  repair ;  cf,  Ital.  riparo,  "  a 
ravipire,  a  fort,  a  banke "  (Florio).  By  analogy  with 
boulevard,  Old  Fr.  boulevart,  of  German  origin  and 
identical  with  our  bulwark,  rempar  became  rempart. 
The  older  form  occurs  under  the  forms  ranipier,  rampire, 
which  survives  in  the  dialect  ramper,  embankment, 
causeway.  For  the  spelling  rampire  we  may  compare 
ti7npire  (p.  105).  The  apple  called  a y*?;-/;?^//:??^,  sometimes 
"  explained  "  as  {ov  June-eating,  vis^s  once  spelt  geniton, 
no  doubt  for  Fr.  jeanneton,  a  diminutive  of  /ea^z.  It 
is  called  in  French. pom7ne  de  Saint- Jean,  and  in  German 
Joha7inisapfel,  because  ripe  about  St  John's  Day  (June  21). 
The  modern  form  is  due  to  such  apple  names  as  golding, 
sweeting,  codlin,  pippin. 

In  the  records  of  medieval  London  we  frequently 
come  across  the  distinction  made  between  people  who 
lived  "  in  the  city,"  Anglo-Fr.  deinz  (dans)  la  cit^,  and 
"  outside  the  city,"  Anglo-Fr.  fors  (Jiors)  la  cite.  The 
former  were  called  deinzein,  whence  our  denizen,  and 
the  latter /^;rz>/.i     The  Anglo-Norman  form  of  modern 

'  An  unoriginal  g  occurs  in  many  English  words  derived  from  French, 
e.g.j  foreigfi,  sovereign,  older  sovran,  sprightly  for  spritely,  i.e.,  sprite-like, 
delight,  from  Fr.  delit,  etc. 


ANALOGY  113 

Fr.  citoyen  was  citein,  which  became  citizen  by  analogy 
with  the  synonymous  denizen.  Even  words  which  have 
opposite  meanings  may  affect  each  other  by  association. 
Thus  Lat.  reddere,  to  give  back,  became  Vulgar  Lat. 
*  render e  by  analogy  with  prendere  (prekendere),  to  take 
away ;  hence  Fr.  rendre.  Our  word  grief,  from  Fr. 
grief,  is  derived  from  a  Vulgar  Lat.  *grevis,  heavy  (for 
gravis),  which  is  due  to  levis,  light. 

The  plural  of  titmouse  is  novv  usually  titmice,  by 
analogy  with  mouse,  7nice,  with  which  it  has  no  connec- 
tion. The  second  part  of  the  word  is  Anglo-Sax.  nidse, 
used  of  several  small  birds.  It  is  cognate  with  Ger. 
Meise,  titmouse,  and  Fr.  mesange,  "a  titmouse,  or 
tittling  "  (Cotgrave).  Tit,  of  Norse  origin,  is  applied  to 
various  small  animals,  and  occurs  also  as  a  prefix  in 
titbit  or  tidbit.     Cf.  tomtit  (p.  33). 

The  Spanish  word  salva,  "a  taste,  a  salutation" 
(Percyvall),  was  used  of  the  pregustation  of  a  great 
man's  food  or  drink.  We  have  given  the  name  to  the 
tray  or  dish  from  which  the  "  assay  "  was  made,  but,  by 
analogy  with  platter,  trencher,  we  spell  it  salver.  In 
another  sense,  that  of  a  "  salutation  "  in  the  forrh  of  a 
volley  of  shot,  we  have  corrupted  it  into  salvo.  With 
the  use  of  Span,  salva  we  may  compare  that  of  Ital. 
credenza,  lit.  faith,  "  the  taste  or  assaie  of  a  princes 
meate  and  drinke  "  (Florio)  ;  whence  Fr.  credence,  side- 
board, used  in  English  only  in  the  ecclesiastical  com- 
pound credence  table,  and  Ger.  credenzen,  to  pour  out. 

In  spoken  English  the  ending  -ew,  -?/^,  of  French 
origin,  has  been  often  changed  to  -ee,  -ey.  Thus  pedigree 
was  formerly  pedigrew  (see  p.  71).  The  fencing  term 
veney — 

"  I  bruised  my  shin  the  other  day  with  playing  at  sword  and 
dagger  with  a  master  of  fence — three  vcneys  for  a  dish  of  stewed 
prunes."    {Merry  Wives,  i.  i.) 

H 


114  FOLK-ETYMOLOGY 

also  spelt  venew^  is  from  Fr.  venue^  "  a  venny  in  fencing  " 
(Cotgrave).  Carew  has  become  Carey  and  Beaidieti^  in 
Hampshire,  is  called  Bewley.  Under  the  influence  of 
these  double  forms  we  sometimes  get  the  opposite 
change,  <t%.,pu7dieu,  now  generally  used  of  the  outskirts 
of  a  town,  is  {ox  pwdey^  a  strip  of  disforested  woodland. 
This  is  a  contraction  of  Anglo-Fr.  potir-allie^  used  to. 
translate  the  legal  Lat.  pera7nbulatio^  a  going  through. 
A  change  of  venue  '^  is  sometimes  made  when  it  seems 
likely  that  an  accused  person,  or  a  football  team,  will 
not  get  justice  from  a  local  jury.  This  vemie  is  in  law 
Latin  vicinetmn^  neighbourhood,  which  gave  Anglo-Fr. 
visni^  and  this,  perhaps,  by  confusion  with  the  venire 
facias^  or  jury  summons,  became  venew,  vemie. 

In  the  preceding  examples  the  form  has  been  chiefly 
affected.  In  the  word  hincheon  both  form  and  meaning 
have  been  influenced  by  the  obsolete  nimckeofi,  a  meal  at 
noon,  Mid.  Eng.  none-cJienche^  for  ^none-schenc/ie,  noon 
draught,  from  Anglo-Sax.  scencari^  to  pour.  Drinking 
seems  to  have  been  regarded  as  more  important  than 
eating,  for  in  some  counties  we  find  this  7iuncheon 
replaced  by  bever^  the  Anglo-Fr.  infinitive  from  Lat, 
bibere^  to  drink.  Ltinch^  a  piece  or  hunk,  especially  of 
bread,  also  used  in  the  sense  of  a  "  snack "  {cf.  Scot. 
"  piece " ),  v/as  extended  to  luncheon  by  analogy  with 
nuncheon^  which  it  has  now  replaced — 

"  So  munch  on,  crunch  on,  take  your  7iu7icheon^ 
Breakfast,  supper,  dinner,  luncheon.^'' 

(Browning,  Pied  Piper  o/Hamelin.) 

The    term    folk-etymology    is    often   applied    in    a 

^  This  word  is  getting  overworked,  e.g.,  "  The  Derbyshire  Golf  Club  links 
were  ^j-esterday  the  t'<?;z^/^  of  a  72-hole  match"  {Nottingham  Guardian,  2l5t 
Nov.  igri). 

"  C/.  Ger.  schenken^  to  pour,  and  the  Tudor  word  skinktr^  a  drawer, 
waiter  (l  Henry  IV.^  ii.  4). 


WRONG  ASSOCIATION  115 

narrower  sense  to  the  corruption  of  words  through  a 
mistaken  idea  of  their  etymology  or  origin.  The 
tendency  of  the  uneducated  is  to  distort  an  unfamiliar 
or  unintelligible  word  into  some  form  which  suggests 
a  meaning.  In  some  cases  we  observe  a  kind  of  heavy 
jocularity,  as  in  sparrow-grass  for  asparagus,  or  Rogue 
Riderhood's  Alfred  David  i^x  affidavit.  In  others  there 
has  been  a  wrong  association  of  ideas,  e.g.,  ih.&  pri?nrose, 
rosemary,  and  ttiberose  have  none  of  them  originally 
any  connection  with  the  rose.  Priynrose  was  earlier 
prifnerole,  an  Old  French  derivative  of  Latin  primula ; 
rosemary,  French  ro7narin,  is  from  Lat.  ros  7narinum, 
sea-dew;  tuberose  is  the  Latin  adjective  tuberosuSy 
bulbous,  tuberous.  Or  attempts  are  made  at  transla- 
tion, such  as  Sam  Weller's  Have  his  carcase  for  Habeas 
Corpus,  or  the  curious  names  which  country  folk  give 
to  such  complaints  as  bronchitis,  erysipelas,  etc.  Even 
Private  Mulvaney's  perversion  of  locomotor  ataxy — 
" They  call  ut  Locomotiis  attacks  us'''  he  sez,  "  bekaze," 
sez  he,  "  it  attacks  us  like  a  locomotive  " — is  probably 
genuine. 

Our  language  is,  owing  to  our  borrowing  habits, 
particularly  rich  in  these  gems.  Examples  familiar  to 
everybody  are  crayfish  from  Fr.  ecrevisse,  gilly-flower 
from  Fr.  giroflee,  sha7?ie-faced  for  shamefast.  Other 
words  in  which  the  second  element  has  been  altered 
are  causeway,  earlier  causey,  from  the  Picard  form  of 
Fr.  chaussee,  Lat.  {via)  calciata,  i.e.,  made  with  lime, 
calx ;  penthouse,  for  pentice,  Fr.  appentis,  "  the  penthouse 
of  a  house  "  (Cotgrave),  a  derivative  of  Old  Fr.  appendre, 
to  hang  to.  Fr.  hangar,  a  shed,  now  introduced  into 
English  by  aviators  as  unnecessarily  2.^ garage  by  motor- 
ists, probably  contains  the  same  idea  of  "  hanging." 

In  hiccough,  for  earlier  hickup,  an  onomatopoeic 
word,    the     spelling,    suggested     by     cough,    has    not 


IIG  FOLK-ETYMOLOGY 

affected  the  pronunciation.  Surcease  is  Fr.  sursis, 
past  participle  of  surseoir^  "  to  surcease^  pawse,  intermit, 
leave  off,  ^\n^  over,  delay  or  stay  for  a  time,"  Lat. 
supersedere.  Taffrail  has  been  confused  with  rail^  its 
more  correct  form  being  tafferel^  from  Du.  iafereel^ 
diminutive  of  tafel,  picture,  from  Lat.  tabula.  It  meant 
originally  the  flat  part  of  the  stern  of  a  ship  ornamented 
with  carvings  or  pictures.  This  is  called  tableau  in 
nautical  French.  Fr.  coutelas^  an  a.ugmentative  of 
Old  Fr.  coutel  (couteazi),  knife,  gave  Eng.  cutlass,  which 
has  no  more  etymological  connection  with  "cutting" 
than  a  cutler,  Fr.  coutelier,  or  a  ciUlet,  Fr.  cotelette,  little 
rib,  Lat.  costa.  Cutlas  was  popularly  corrupted  into 
curtal-axe,  the  form  used  by  Rosalind — 

"A  gallant  ctirtal-axe  upon  my  thigh, 
A  boar-spear  in  my  hand." 

{As  You  Like  It,  i.  3.) 

We  may  compare //'V/l'-^jr^,  Mid.  Y.n^,  pikeys,  Old  Fr.  * 
piquozSypicquozs,"  Q.  pickax"  (Cotgrave),  from  the  verb 
piquer.  The  word  posthumous  has  changed  its  meaning 
through  folk  -  etymology.  It  represents  the  Lat. 
superlative  postumus,  latest  born.  By  association  with 
Immtis,  ground,  earth,  it  came  to  be  used  of  a  child 
born,  or  a  work  published,  after  its  author's  death,  a 
meaning  which  the  dQxlwditiwQS,  o^  postujmis  have  in  all 
the  Romance  languages. 

The  first  part  of  the  word   has   been   distorted    in 
pursy,  short-winded — 

"  And ^z/rj^' insolence  shall  break  his  wind 
With  fear  and  horrid  flight." 

{Timon  of  Athens,  v.  5.) 

Fr.  poussif,  from  pousser,  to  push,  Lat.  pulsus,  throbbing. 
It  was  formerly  used  also  in  connection  with  horses,  e.g., 
"You   must  warrant  this  horse  clear  of  the  glanders, 


ARQUEBUS— JAUNTY  117 

and  pursy ness"  {TJie  Gentleynan's  Dictionary,  1705,  s.v. 
glanders).  Arquebus ^  Fr.  arguebuse,  is  a  doublet  of 
hackbut y  Old  Fr.  haqtcebute,  "  an  haqnebut,  or  arquebuse  ; 
a  caliver "  (Cotgrave).  The  corruption  is  due  to  arcus, 
bow.     Both  arquebus  and  hackbut  are  common  in  Scott — 

"With  hackbut  bent,  my  secret  stand. 
Dark  as  the  purposed  deed.  I  chose." 

{CadyoTi'  Castle,) 

The  origin  is  Du.  haakbus,  hook-gun,  the  second 
element  of  which  appears  in  blunderbuss.  The  first 
part  of  this  word  has  undergone  so  many  popular 
transformations  that  it  is  difficult  to  say  which  was 
the  original  form.  Ludwig  has  Ezne  Donner-biichSy 
Blunder-bilcliSy  oder  Muszketon,  "  a  thunder  -  box  ;  a 
blunder-buss ;  a  musketoon ;  a  wide-mouthed  brass- 
gun,  carrying  about  twenty  pistol  bullets  at  once." 
It  was  also  called  in  German  a  Plaiitier-bilchs,  from 
plantieren,  to  plant,  set  up,  because  fired  from  a  rest. 
Du.  bus^V^k^  Ger.  Bilchse,  means  both  "  box  "  and  "  gun." 
In  the  bushes,  or  axle-boxes,  of  a  cartwheel,  we  have 
the  same  word.  The  ultimate  origin  is  Greek  -al^o^, 
the  box  -  tree,  whence  also  the  learned  word  pyx.  Fr. 
boite,  box,  is  cognate,  and  Fr.  boussole,  mariners' 
compass,  is  from  the  Italian  diminutive  bossola,  "a  boxe 
that  mariners  keepe  their  compasse  in.  Also  taken 
for  the  compasse  "  (Florio). 

Scissors  were  formerly  cizars  {cf.  Fr.  ciseaux), 
connected  with  Lat.  ccedere,  to  cut.  The  modern 
spelling  is  due  to  association  with  Lat.  scissor,  a  cutter, 
tailor,  from  scinderc,  to  cut.  Runagate  is  well  known 
to  be  a  corrupt  doublet  of  renegade,  one  who  has 
"denied"  his  faith.  Recreant,  the  present  participle 
of  Old  Fr.  recreire,  Lat.  recredere,  contains  very  much 
the   same  idea ;   cf.  miscreant,  lit    unbeliever.    Jaunty, 

H  2 


118  FOLK-ET\^IOLOGY 

jayity  in  Wycherley  and  genty  in  Burns,  is  Fr.  gentil, 
wrongly  brought  into  connection  wWh  jaunt. 

In  some  cases  of  folk-etymology  it  is  difficult  to  see 
to  what  idea  the  corruption  is  due.^  The  mollusc  called 
a  periwifikle  was  in  Anglo-Saxon  pineivincla^  which  still 
survives  in  dialect  as  pennywi7ikle.  It  appears  to  have 
been  influenced  by  the  plant-name  periwinkle^  which  is 
itself  a  corruption  of  Mid.  Eng.  pervenke^  from  Lat. 
pervinca ;  cf.  Fr.  pervenche.  The  material  called 
lutestring  was  formerly  lustrings  Fr.  lustrine^  from  its 
glossiness.  A  wiseacre  is  "  one  that  knows  or  tells 
truth ;  we  commonly  use  in  viala^n  poj-tem  for  a  fool " 
(Blount,  Glossographia,  1674).  This  comes,  through 
Dutch,  from  Ger.  Weissager^  commonly  understood  as 
zuise-sayery  but  really  unconnected  with  sagen,  to  say. 
The  Old  High  Ger„  wizago,  prophet,  is  cognate  with 
Eng.  witty.  The  military  and  naval  word  ensign  is  in 
Shakespeare  corrupted,  in  both  its  meanings,  into 
ancient.  Thus  Falstaff  describes  his  tatterdemalion 
recruits  as  "  ten  times  more  dishonourable  ragged  than 
an  old-faced  ancient"  while  A7icient  Pistol  is  familiar  to 
every  reader.  A  cordzvainer,  from  Old  Fr.  cordonanier^ 
*'a  shoomaker,  a  cordwainer''  (Cotgrave),  worked  with 
cordouauy  "  Cordovan  leather ;  which  is  properly  a  goat's 
skin  tanned."  The  modern  French  "form  cordonnier  is 
due  to  association  with  cordon,  a  thong,  bootlace,  etc. 
Witch-elm  has  nothing  to  do  with  witches.  It  is  for 
older  zveech-elniy  wicJie-clni^  and  belongs  to  Anglo-Sax. 
wican^  to  bend.  Service-tree  is  a  meaningless  corruption 
of  Mid.  Eng.  serves^  an  early  loan  word  from  Lat.  sorbus. 

In    the    case     of    a     double-barrelled    word,    folk- 

^  Perhaps  it  is  the  mere  instinct  to  make  an  unfamiliar  word  "look  like 
oomethlDg.'"  Thus  Fr.  heaupre,  from  Eng.  bowsprit^  cannot  conceivably 
have  been  associated  with  a  fair  meadow  ;  and  accotnplicif,  for  complice,  Lat, 
complex,  compile-,  can  hardly  have  been  confused  with  accomplish. 


VERDIGRIS— FORLORN  HOPE  119 

etymology  usually  affects  one  half  only,  e.g.,  verdigris  is 
for  Fr.  vert-de-gris,  for  Old  Fr.  vert  de  Grece^  Greek 
green.  The  reason  for  the  name  is  unknown.  Cotgrave 
calls  it  "Spanish  green."  Mid.  English  had  the  more 
correct  vertegresse  and  verte  Grecc  (Promptorium  Parvu- 
lorum,  1440).  The  cavalry  trumpet-call  boot  and  saddle 
is  for  Fr.  boute-selle^  lit.  "  put  saddle."  Co?irt  card  is  for 
coat  card,  a  name  given  to  these  cards  from  the  dresses 
depicted  on  them.  Florio  has  carta  di  figiira,  "  a  cote 
carde."  The  card  game  called  Pope  Joan  would  appear 
to  be  in  some  way  corrupted  from  naiit  jaiuie,  lit. 
"yellow  dwarf,"  its  French  name. 

But  occasionally  the  results  of  folk-etymology  are 
literally  preposterous}  The  Fr.  cJiouc7'oute  is  from 
surkrut,  a  dialect  pronunciation  of  Ger.  Saiier-kratit^ 
sour  cabbage,  so  that  the  first  syllable,  meaning  "  sour," 
has  actually  been  corrupted  so  as  to  mean  "  cabbage." 
Another  example,  which  I  have  never  seen  quoted,  is 
the  name  of  a  beech-wood  near  the  little  town  of 
Remilly  in  Lorraine.  The  ti:ees  of  this  wood  are  very 
old  and  curiously  twisted,  and  they  are  called  in  French 
les  jolis  fans,  where  fou  (Lat.  fagus)  is  the  Old  French 
for  "beech"  {fo2iet,  whip,  is  its  diminutive).  This  is 
rendered  in  German  as  tolle  BucJien,  mad  beeches,  the 
foit  having  been  misunderstood  as  referring  to  the 
fantastic  appearance  of  the  trees. 

Forlorn  hope  is  sometimes  used  metaphorically  as 
though  the  hope  were  of  the  kind  that  springs  eternal  in 
the  human  breast.  In  military  language  it  now  means 
the  leaders  of  a  storming  party,  but  was  earlier  used 
of  soldiers  in  any  way  exposed  to  special  danger. 
Cotgrave  has  enfans  pe7'd2is,  "  perdus ;  or  the  forlorne 
hope  of  a  campe  (are  commonly  gentlemen  of 
companies)."     It   is    from    obsolete   Du.    verlo7xn  hoop^ 

^  V.-ixX.prcBposteriis^  from/ro',  before,  and /i?^»Vr7/5,  behind.' 


120  FOLK-ETYMOLOGY 

where  Jioop^  cognate  with  Eng.  heap^  is  used  for  a  band 
or  company.  In  16th-century  German  we  find  ein 
verlorencr  Hmife.  Both  the  Dutch  and  German  words 
are  obsolete  in  this  sense. 

The  mihtary  phrase  to  ru?i  the  gauntlet  has  no  con- 
nection with  gaimtlet^  glove.    The  older  form  is  ga?itlope — 

"  Some  said  he  ought  to  be  tied  neck  and  heels  ;  others  that 
he  deserved  to  run  the  gantlopej^    {Tom  Jones,  vii.  i.) 

It  is  a  punishment  of  Swedish  origin  from  the  period 
of  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  The  Swedish  form  is  gat- 
lopp,  in  which  gat  is  cognate  with  Eng.  gate,  in  its 
proper  sense  of  "  street,"  and  lopp  with  Eng.  leap  and 
Gq^x.  laufen,X.o  x\xn. 

The  press-gang  had  originally  nothing  to  do  with 
"  pressing."  When  soldiers  or  seaman  were  engaged, 
they  received  earnest  money  called /r^j^-money,  i.e,,  an 
advance  on  "  loan,"  Old  Yr.prest  {pret\  and  the  engage- 
ment was  called  presting  or  hnpresting.  Florio  explains 
soldato,  literally  "  paid,"  by  ^^ prest  with  paie  as  soldiers 
are."  The  popular  corruption  to  press  took  place 
naturally  as  the  method  of  enlistment  became  more 
pressing. 

The  black  art  is  a  translation  of  Old  Fr.  nigroynance, 
^'nigromancie,  conjuring,  the  black  art'^  (Cotgrave)  ;  but 
this  is  folk-etymology  for  nccrojnantie,  Greco-Lat.  necro- 
uiantiay  divination  by  means  of  the  dead.  The  popular 
form  negromancie  still  survives  in  French.  To  curry 
favour  is  a  corruption  of  Mid.  Eng.  "to  curry  favelP 
The  expression  is  translated  from  French.  Palsgrave 
has  curryfavell,  a  flatterer,  "estrille  faveau,"  estriller 
meaning  "to  curry  (a  horse)."  Faveau,  earlier fauvel,  is 
the  name  of  a  horse  in  the  famous  Roman  de  Fauvel,  a 
satirical  Old  French  poem  of  the  early  14th  century.  He 
symbolizes  worldly  vanity  carefully  tended  by  all  classes 


CONTAMINATION  121 

of  society.  Fauvel  is  a  diminutive  of  fauve^  tawny, 
cognate  with  Eng.  fallow  (deer). 

A  very  curious  case  of  folk-etymology  is  seen  in  the 
old  superstition  of  the  kcmd  of  glory.  This  is  understood 
to  be  a  skeleton  hand  from  the  gallows  which  will  point 
out  hidden  treasure — 

"  Now  mount  who  list, 
And  close  by  the  wrist 
Sever  me  quickly  the  Dead  Man's  fist'' 

(I  NGOLDSBV,  The  Hand  of  Glory.) 

It  is  simply  a  translation  of  Fr.  7nam  de  gloire.  But  the 
French  expression  is  a  popular  corruption  oiynandragore^ 
from  Lat.  mandragora^  the  mandragore,  or  mandrake,  to 
the  forked  roots  of  which  a  similar  virtue  was  attributed, 
especially  if  the  plant  were  obtained  from  the  foot  of 
the  gallows. 

Akin  to  folk-etymology  is  contamination,  ?>.,  the 
welding  of  two  words  into  one.  This  can  often  be 
noticed  in  children,  whose  linguistic  instincts  are  those 
of  primitive  races.  I  have  heard  a  child,  on  her  first 
visit  to  the  Zoo,  express  great  eagerness  to  see  the 
canimals  {camels  x  animals)^  which,  by  the  way,  turned 
out  to  be  the  giraffes.  A  small  boy  who  learnt  English 
and  German  simultaneously  evolved,  at  the  age  of  two, 
the  word  spam  {sponge  x  Ger.  Schzvaiiivi).  In  a  college 
in  the  English  midlands,  a  student  named  Tarpin^  who 
sat  next  to  a  student  named  Constantlne^  once  heard 
himself  startlingly  addressed  by  a  lecturer  as  Tujpenline. 
People  who  inhabit  the  frontier  of  two  languages,  and 
in  fact  all  who  are  in  any  degree  bilingual,  must 
inevitably  form  such  composites  occasionally.  The  h 
aspirate  of  Fr.  haul  can  only  be  explained  by  the 
influence  of  Old  High  Ger.  hoh  Qiock).  The  poetic 
word  glaive  cannot  be  derived  from  Lat.  gladiiis^  sword, 
which   has   given   Fr.  glai,   an    archaic  name   for   the 


122  FOLK-ETYMOLOGY 

gladiolus.  We  must  invoke  the  help  of  a  Gaulish  word 
cladebo,  sword,  which  is  related  to  Gaelic  clay-7no7'e,  big 
sword.  It  has  been  said  that  in  this  word  the  swords 
of  Cssar  and  Vercingetorix  still  cross  each  other.  In 
Old  French  we  find  oreste,  a  storm,  combined  from  orage 
and  tempeste  (ternpete).  Fr.  orteil^  toe,  represents  the 
mixture  of  Lat.  ariiciihis^  a  little  joint,  with  Gaulish 
ordag.  A  battledore  was  in  Mid.  English  a  washing 
beetle,  which  is  in  Provencal  batedor,  lit.  beater.  Hence 
it  seems  that  this  is  one  of  the  very  few  Provengal 
words  which  passed  directly  into  English  during  the 
period  of  our  occupation  of  Guienne.  It  has  been 
contaminated  by  the  cognate  beetle.  Ajzecdotage  is  a 
deliberate  coinage. 

In  som,e  cases  it  is  impossible  to  estimate  the 
different  elements  in  a  word.  Arbo7ir  certainly  owes 
its  modern  spelling  to  Lat.  arbor^  a  tree,  but  it 
represents  also  Mid.  Eng.  herbere,  erbere^  which  comes, 
through  French,  from  Lat.  ^  herbanu??i.  But  this  can 
only  mean  herb-garden,  so  that  the  sense  development 
of  the  word  must  have  been  affected  by  harbotcry 
properly  "army-shelter"  {cf.  Fr.  aiiberge^  p.  152).  When 
Dryden  wrote — 

"  Tardy  of  aid,  unseal  thy  heavy  eyes. 
Awake,  and  with  the  dawning  day  arise." 

{The  Cock  and  the  Fox,  247.) 

he  was  expressing  a  composite  idea  made  up  from  the 
verb  seal^  Old  Fr.  seeler  (sceller^,  Lat.  slgilla7'e,  and  seel^ 
Old  Fr.  czller^  Vulgar  Lat  *  cilzare,  from  cilmm,  eye- 
brow. The  latter  verb,  meaning  to  sew  together  the 
eyelids  of  a  young  falcon,  was  once  a  common  word — 

"  Come,  seeling  night, 
Scarf  up  the  tender  eye  of  pitiful  day." 

{Macbeth,  iii.  2.) 

The  verb  fret  is  Anglo-Sax.  fretan,  to  eat  away  {cf.  Ger. 


FRET— EXCISE  123 

fressen).  Fret  is  also  used  of  interlaced  bars  in  heraldry, 
in  which  sense  it  corresponds  to  Yx.  frette\v\\h  the  same 
meaning;  for  this  word,  which  also  means  ferrule,  a 
Vulgar  Lat.  ^fen^itta  {ferritin,  iron)  has  been  suggested. 
When  Hamlet  speaks  of — 

"This  majestical  rooi fretted  whh  golden  fire," 

(ii.  3) 

is  he  thinking  oi  frets  in  heraldry,  or  of  fretwork,  or  are 
these  two  of  one  origin  ?  Why  should  fret.,  in  this 
sense,  not  come  from  fret,  to  eat  away,  since  fretwork 
may  be  described  as  the  "  eating  away  "  of  part  of  the 
material?  Cf.  ^/r/^,  which  comes,  through  Dutch,  from 
Ger.  dtzen,  the  factitive  of  essc7i,  to  eat.  But  the 
German  iox  fretwork  is  durchbrochene  Arbeit,  "broken- 
through  "  work,  and  Old  Fr.  fret  or  frait,  Lat.  fractus, 
means  "broken."  Who  shall  decide  how  much  our 
fretwork  owes  to  each  of  these  possible  etymons  ? 

That  form  of  taxation  called  excise,  which  dates 
from  the  time  of  Charles  I.,  has  always  been  unpopular. 
Andrew  Marvell  says  that  Excise — 

"  With  hundred  rows  of  teeth  the  shark  exceeds. 
And  on  all  trades  like  cassawar  she  feeds." 

Dr  Johnson  defines  it  as  "a  hateful  tax  levied  upon 
commodities,  and  adjudged  not  by  the  common  judges 
of  property,  but  wretches  hired  by  those  to  whom  excise 
is  paid,"  an  outburst  which  Lord  Mansfield  considered 
"  actionable."  The  name,  like  the  tax,  came  from  the 
Netherlands,^  where  it  was  called  accijs.  In  modern 
Dutch  it  has  become  accijns,  through  confusion  with 
cijns  tax  (Lat.  census ;  cf.  Ger.  Zins,  interest).  But  the 
Dutch    word    \s    from    Fr.    accise,    which     appears    in 

^  *"Twere  cheap  living  here,  were  it  not  for  the  monstrous  excises 
which  are  impos'd  upon  all  sorts  of  commodities,  both  for  belly  and 
back." — James  Howell,  in  a  letter  written  from  Amsterdam,  1619, 


124  FOLK-ETYMOLOGY 

medieval  Latin  as  accisia^  as  though  connected  with 
'''  cutting  "  (cf.  tallage^  from  Fr.  tailler^  to  cut),  or  with  the 
"  incidence  "  of  the  tax.  It  is  perhaps  a  perversion  of 
Ital.  assisa,  "an  imposition,  or  taxe,  or  assesment" 
(Torriano) ;  but  there  is  also  an  Old  Fr.  aceis  which 
must  be  related  to  Latin  ceitsus. 

When  folk-etymology  and  contamination  work 
together,  the  result  is  sometimes  bewildering.  Thus 
equerry  represents  an  older  qiierry  or  qtiirry,  still  usual 
in  the  i8th  century.  The  modern  spelling  is  due  to 
popular  association  with  Lat.  equus.  But  this  querry 
is  identical  with  French  ecurie^  stable,  just  as  in  Scottish 
the  post  often  m.eans  the  postman.  And  ^.atrie^  older 
esmrie,  is  from  Old  High  Ger.  sciiira  {Scheiier^  barn). 
The  word  used  in  modern  French  in  the  sense  of  our 
equerry  is  ecuyer,  older  esctiier^  Lat.  saitarius,  shield- 
bearer,  whence  our  word  esquire.  This  ^cuyer  is  in  French 
naturally  confused  with  ecuriey  so  that  Cotgrave  defines 
escuyrie  as  *'  the  stable  of  a  prince,  or  nobleman ;  also, 
a  querry-^\{\'^  ;  or  the  duties,  or  offices  belonging  thereto  ; 
also  (in  old  authors)  a  squire's  place ;  or,  the  dignity,  title, 
estate  of  an  esquire." 

Cannibal  is  from  Span,  canibal^  earlier  caribal^  i.e. 
Cariby  the  n  being  due  to  contamination  with  Span. 
cani7io^  canine,  voracious.  It  can  hardly  be  doubted 
that  this  word  suggested  Shakespeare's  Caliban.  Seraglio 
is  due  to  confusion  between  the  Turkish  word  serai,  a 
palace,  and  Ital.  serraglio.^^^n  inclosure,  a  close,  a  padocke, 
a:  parke,  a  cloister  or  secluse"  (Florio),  which  belongs 
to  Lat.  sera,  a  bolt  or  bar. 

Ignorance  of  the  true  meaning  of  a  word  often  leads 
to  pleonasm.  Thus  greyhound  means  hound-hound,  the 
first  syllable  representing  Icel.  grey,  a  dog.  Peajacket 
is  explanatory  of  Du.  pij,  earlier  pye,  "py-gown,  or 
rough  gown,  as  souldiers  and  seamen  wear  "  (Hexham). 


PLEONASM  125 

"On  Greenhow  Hill"  means  "on  green  hill  hill,"  and 
"  Buckhurst  Holt  Wood "  means  "  beech  wood  wood 
wood,"  an  explanatory  word  being  added  as  its 
predecessor  became  obsolete.  The  second  part  of 
salt-cellar  is  not  the  ordinar)-  word  cellar^  but  Fr.  saliere^ 
"  a  salt-i-^-Z/^r  "  (Cotgrave),  so  that  the  salt  is  unnecessary. 
We  speak  pleonastically  of  "  dishevelled  hair,"  while 
Old  Fr.  descheveli^  now  replaced  by  ecJievele^  can  only  be 
applied  to  a  person,  e.g.,  U7ie  fe/>!??ie  toute  deschcvelee^ 
"  discheveled,  with  all  her  haire  disorderly  falling  about 
her  eares "  (Cotgrave).  The  word  cheer  meant  in 
Mid.  English  "  face."  Its  French  original  chere  scarcely" 
survives  except  in  the  phrase  faire  boyine  ckere^  lit. 
"  make  a  good  face,"  a  meaning  preserved  in  "to  be  of 
good  cheery  In  both  languages  the  meaning  has  been 
transferred  to  the  more  substantial  blessings  which  the 
pleasant  countenance  seems  to  prom.ise,  and  also  to  the 
felicity  resulting  from  good  treatment.  The  true 
meaning  of  the  word  is  so  lost  that  we  can  speak  of  a 
'^ cheerfuli3.CQ.I'  i.e.^  a  face  full  of  face. 

But  there  are  many  words  vrhose  changes  of  form 
cannot  be  altogether  explained  by  any  of  the  influences 
that  have  been  discussed  in  this  and  the  preceding 
chapters.  Why  should  cervelns,  "a  large  kind  of 
sausage,  well  season'd,  and  eaten  cold  in  slices " 
(Kersey's  Eng,  Diet.,  1720),  now  ht^ saveloy?^  We 
might  invoke  the  initial  letters  of  sausage  to  account  for 
part  of  the  change,  but  the  oy  remains  a  mystery. 
Cervelas,  eRrlier  ce/i'elat,  comes  through  French  from  Ital. 
cervellato, "  a  kinde  of  dry  sausage  "  (Florio),  said  to  have 
been  originally  made  from  pig's  brains.  Hatchmejit  is 
a  corruption  of  achieveynent.  It  is  now  used  of  the 
escutcheon  of  a  deceased  person  displayed  after  his 
death,  but  its  earlier  meaning  was  an  addition  to  a  coat 
of  arms  granted   for  some  achievement.     We  find  the 


126  FOLK-ET^^MOLOGY 

natural  contraction  achenient  in  the  i6th  century,  but 
the  h  remains  unexplained.  French  omelette  has  a  be- 
wildering history,  but  we  can  trace  it  almost  to  its  present 
form.  To  begin  with,  an  omelet^  in  spite  of  proverbs,  is 
not  necessarily  associated  with  eggs.  The  origin  is  to 
be  found  in  Lat.  lamella^  a.  thin  plate,^  which  gave  Old 
Fr.  lamelle.  Then  la  lamelle  was  taken  as  Valamelley  and 
the  new  alamelle  or  alemeUe  became,  with  change  of 
?>M?hyi.,  ale)nette.  By  metathesis  (see  p.  54)  this  gave 
amelette^  still  in  dialect  use,  for  which  modern  French  has 
substituted  omelette.  The  0  then  remains  unexplained, 
unless  we  admit  the  influence  of  the  old  form  aitif-mollet^ 
a  product  of  folk-etymology. 

Coimterpane  represents  Old  Fr.  coute-pointCy  now  cor- 
ruptly coii'f'te-pointe^  from  Lat.  ciilcita  puncta^  lit. 
"stitched  quilt";  cf,  Ger.  5/^//^^r/^^,  counterpane,  from 
steppeHy  to  stitch.  In  Old  French  we  also  find  the  cor- 
rupt form  contrepointe  which  gave  Eng.  counterpoint — 

*•  In  ivory  coffers  I  have  stuff 'd  my  crowns  ; 
In  cypress  chests  my  arras,  counterpoints. 
Costly  apparel,  tents  and  canopies." 

{Taming  of  the  Shrew,  ii.  i). 

now  unaccountably  replaced  by  cotinte7pane.  In  Mid. 
English  we  find  also  the  correct  form  quilt-point  from  the 
Old  Norman  Fr.  cuilte  {pur'jpointe^  v/hich  occurs  in  a 
12th-century  poem,  on  St  Thomas  of  Canterbury.  The 
hooped  petticoat  called  a  farthingale  was  spelt  by 
Shakespeare  fardingale   and    by   Cotgrave   vardingalL 

1  We  have  a  parallel  in  Yx.flan,  'Eng.JIawn— 

"  The  feast  was  over,  the  board  was  clear'd, 
The/atf«5  and  the  custards  had  all  disappear'd." 

{I'^GO'LTiS'BY ^  fackdaw  of  Rheims.) 

Ger.  Fladen,  etc.,  a  kind  of  omelet,  ultimately  related  to  Eng.  fiat. 
Cotgiave  has  fiajis^  *'  flawnes,  custards,  eggepies  ;  also,  round  planchets,  or 
plates  of  metalL" 


UNEXPLAINED  PERVTERSIONS  127 

This  is  Old  Fr.  verdugalU,  of  Spanish  origin  and 
derived  from  Span,  verdugo,  a  (green)  wand,  because  the 
circumference  was  stiffened  with  flexible  switches  before 
the  application  of  whalebone  or  steel  to  this  purpose. 
The  crhiolme,  as  its  name  implies,  was  originally- 
strengthened  with  horse-hair,  Lat  crinis,  hair.  To 
return  to  Ih^  farthingale,  the  insertion  of  an  n  before  g 
is  common  in  English  (see  p.  Jj^;,  but  the  change  of  the 
initial  consonant  is  baffling.  The  modern  Fr.  vertu- 
gadin  is  also  a  corrupt  form.  Isinglass  seems  to  be  an 
arbitrary  perv^ersion  of  obsolete  Du.  huyzenblas  (Jiiiisblad)^ 
sturgeon  bladder  ;  cf,  the  cognate  Ger.  Hatcsenblase. 

Few  words  have  suffei-ed  so  many  distortions  as 
liquorice.  The  original  is  Greco-Lat.  glycyrrJiiza^ 
literally  "  sweet  root,"  corrupted  into  Latin  liquiritia, 
whence  Fr.  reglisse,  Ital.  Ugorizia,  regolizia,  and  Ger. 
Lakritze.  The  Mid.  English  form  licoris  would  appear 
to  have  been  influenced  by  orris,  a  plant  which  also  has 
a  sweet  root,  while  the  modern  spelling  is  perhaps  due 
to  liquor. 


CHAPTER   X 

,   DOUBLETS 

The  largest  class  of  doublets  is  formed  by  those  words 
of  Latin  origin  which  have  been  introduced  into  the 
language  in  two  forms,  the  popular  form  through  Anglo- 
Saxon  or  Old  French,  and  the  learned  through  modern 
French  or  directly  from  Latin,  Obvious  examples  are 
caitiffs  captive ;  chief tam^  captain  ;  frail,  fragile.  Lat. 
discus^  a  plate,  quoit,  gave  Anglo-Sax.  disc^  whence 
Eng.  dish.  In  Old  French  it  became  dels,  Eng.  dais, 
and  in  Ital.  desco,  "  a  deske,  a  table,  a  boord,  a  counting 
boord"  (Florio),  whence  our  desk.  We  have  also  the 
learned  disc  or  disk,  so  that  the  one  Latin  word  has 
supplied  us  with  four  vocables,  differentiated  in  meaning, 
but  each  having  the  fundamental  sense  of  a  flat 
surface. 

Dainty,  from  Old  Fr.  deintie,  is  a  doublet  of  dignity. 
Ague  is  properly  an  adjective  equivalent  to  acute,  as  in 
Vx.fievre  aigue.  "Wi^  paladins  were  the  twelve  peers  of 
Charlemagne's  palace,  and  a  Count  Palatine  is  a  later 
name  for  something  of  the  same  kind.  One  of  the 
most  famous  bearers  of  the  title.  Prince  Rupert,  is 
usually  called  in  contemporary  records  the  Palsgrave, 
from  Ger.  Pfalzgraf,  lit.  palace  count.  Trivet,  Lat.  tripes^ 
triped-,  dates  back  to  Anglo-Saxon,  though  no  one  has 
satisfactorily  explained  why  it  should  be  taken  as  an 

128 


SPICE— SULLEN  129 

emblem  of  "  Tightness."  In  the  learned  doublets  tripod 
and  tripos  we  have  the  Greek  form.  Spice^  Old  Fr. 
espice  {epice),  is  a  doublet  of  species.  The  medieval 
merchants  recognised  four  "  kinds  "  of  spice,  viz.,  saffron, 
cloves,  cinnamon,  nutmegs. 

Coffin  is  the  learned  doublet  of  coffer,  Fr.  coffre,  from 
Lat.  cophimis.  It  was  originally  used  of  a  basket  or 
case  of  any  kind,  and  even  of  a  pie-crust — 

*'  Why,  thou  say'st  true  ;  it  is  a  paltr>'  cap  : 
A  custard-^(9^«,  a  bauble,  a  silken  pie." 

{Taming  of  the  Shrew,  iv.  3.) 

Its  present  meaning  is  an  attempt  at  avoiding  the 
mention  of  the  inevitable,  a  natural  human  weakness 
which  has  popularised  in  America  the  horrible  word 
casket  in  this  sense.  The  Greeks,  fearing  death  less  than 
do  the  moderns,  called  a  coffin  plainly  crapKocpdyo?,  flesh- 
eater,  whence  indirectly  Fr.  cercueil  and  Ger.  Sarg. 

The  homely  mangle,  which  comes  to  us  from  Dutch, 
is  a  doublet  of  the  warlike  engine  called  a  mangonel — 

"  You  may  win  the  wall  in  spite  both  of  bow  and  mangonel?^ 

{Ivanhoe,  Ch.  xxvii.) 

which  is  Old  French.  The  source  is  Greco-Lat. 
manganum,  apparatus,  whence  Ital.  mangano,  with  both 
meanings.  The  verb  jnangle,  to  mutilate,  is  unrelated. 
Sttllen,  earlier  soleyn,  is  a  popular  doublet  of  solemn, 
in  its  secondary  meaning  of  glum  or  morose.  In  the 
early  Latin  -  English  dictionaries  solemn,  soleyn,  and 
sullen  are  used  indifferently  to  explain  such  words  as 
acerbiis,  agelastus,  vulttwsiis.  Shakespeare  speaks  of 
"  customary  suits  of  solemn  black  "  {Hamlet^  i.  2),  but 
makes  Bolingbroke  say — 

"  Come,  moiirn  with  me  for  that  I  do  lament. 
And  put  on  sullen  black  incontinent." 

{Richard  IL,  v.  6.) 
I 


130  DOUBLETS 

while  the  '■'-solemn  curfew  (^Tempest^  v.  i)  is  described  by 
Milton  as  "swinging  slow  with  sullen  roar"  {Penseroso, 
1.  y6).  The  meaning  of  antic,  a  doublet  of  ajztiqiis,  has 
changed  considerably,  but  the  process  is  easy  to  follow. 
From  meaning  simply  ancient  it  acquired  the  sense  of 
quaint  or  odd,  and  was  applied  to  grotesque^  work  in 
art  or  to  a  fantastic  disguise.  Then  it  came  to  mean 
buffoon,  in  which  sense  Shakespeare  applies  it  to  grim 
death — 

*'  For  within  the  hollow  crown 
That  rounds  the  mortal  temples  of  a  king, 
Keeps  death  his  court ;  and  there  the  a?itic  sits, 
Scoffing  his  state,  and  grinning  at  his  pomp." 

{Richard  I  J. y  iii.  2.) 

and  lastly  the  meaning  was  transferred  to  the 
capers  of  the  buffoon.  From  Old  High  Ger.  faltan 
{falten)y  to  fold,  and  stiiol  {Stuhl),  chair,  we  get  Fr. 
fauteuiL  Medieval  Latin  constructed  the  compound 
faldestolium,  whence  our  ecclesiastical  faldstool,  a  litany 
desk.  Revel  is  from  Old  Fr.  reveler,  Lat.  rebellare,  so 
that  it  is  a  doublet  oi  rebel  Holyoak's  Latin  Dictionary 
(16 1 2)  has  rev  ells  or  routs, "  concursus  populi  illegitimus." 
Its  sense  development,  from  a  riotous  concourse  to  a 
festive  gathering,  has  certainly  been  affected  by  Fr. 
reveiller,  to  wake,  whence  reveillon,  a  Christmas  Eve 
supper,  or  ''wake."  Cf  Ital.  vegghia,  "a  watch,  a  wake, 
a  revelling  a  nights  "  (Florio). 

The  very  important  word  money  has  acquired  its 
meaning  by  one  of  those  accidents  which  are  so  common 
in  word  history.  The  Roman  mirit  was  attached  to  the 
temple  of  Juno  Moneta,  i.e.,  the  admonisher,  from  inonere, 
and  this  name  was  transferred  to  the  building.  The 
Romans    introduced    inoneta,    in    the    course   of    their 

1  Le,,  grotto  painting,  Ital.  groUesca^  "a  kinde  of  rugged  unpolished 
painters  worke,  anticke  worke"  (Florio). 


FROM  DIFFERENT  EANGUAGES  131 

conquests,  into  French  {;)?io?i?mie),  German  {Miinze)^  and 
English  ijnint).  The  French  and  German  words  still 
have  three  m.eanings,  viz.,  mint,  coin,  change.  We  have 
borrowed  the  French  word  and  given  it  the  general 
sense  represented  in  French  by  argent,  silver.  The 
Ger.  Geld,  money,  has  no  connection  with  gold,  but  is 
cognate  with  ^ng.  yield,  as  in  '' t\\Q  yield  of  an  invest- 
ment," of  which  we  preserve  the  old  form  in  wergild, 
payment  for  having  killed  a  man  (xA.nglo-Sax.  zi-er).  To 
return  to  77ioneta^  we  have  a  third  form  of  the  word 
in  moidore — 

"And  fair  rose-nobles  and  hxoi^ 7noidores 
The  waiter  pulls  out  of  their  pockets  by  scores." 

{\^C^Q\SQ%V.\,  The  Hand  of  Glory.) 

from  Port,  moeda  de  ouro,  money  of  gold. 

Sometimes  the  same  word  reaches  us  through 
different  languages.  Thus  charge  is  French  and  cargo 
is  Spanish,  both  belonging  to  a  Vulgar  Lat.  *carricare^ 
from  carrus,  vehicle.  In  old  commercial  records  we 
often  find  the  Anglo-Norman  form  cark,  or  carke^  which 
survives  now  only  in  a  metaphorical  sense,  e.g.  carking^ 
i.e.  burdensome,  care.  Lat.  domina  has  given  us  through 
French  both  dame  and  dam}  and  through  Spanish 
duenna;  v/hile  Ital.  donna  occurs  in  the  compound 
madonna  and  the  donah  of  the  East  End  costermonger. 
Lat.  datum,  given,  becomes  Fr.  de  and  Eng.  die 
(plural  dice\  Its  Italian  doublet  is  dado,  now  used  in 
English  of  a  pattern  which  was  originally  cubical. 
Scrifumage  and  skirmish  are  variant  spellings  of  Fr. 
escdrmouche,  from  Ital.  scaramuccia,  of  German  origin 
(see  p.  59).  But  we  have  also,  more  immediately  from 
Italian,  the  form  scaramouch.  Blount's  Glossographia 
(1674)  mentions  Scaramoche,  "a  famous    Italian    Zani 

^  See  p.  III.     The  aristocracy  of  the  horse  is  still  testified  to  by  the  use 
of  sire  and  dxm  for  his  parents. 


132  DOUBLETS 

(see  p.  41),  or  mimick,  who  acted  here  in  England, 
1673."  Scarani07ich  was  one  of  the  stock  characters  of 
the  old  Italian  comedy,  which  still  exists  as  the 
harlequinade  of  the  Christmas  pantomime,  and  of  which 
some  traces  survive  in  the  Punch  and  Judy  show.  He 
was  represented  as  a  cowardly  braggart  dressed  in  black. 
The  golfer's  sfa?ice  is  a  doublet  of  the  poet's  sta7iza^ 
both  of  them  belonging  to  Lat.  stare^  to  stand.  Stance 
is  Old  French  and  stanza  is  Italian,  "a  stance  or  staffe 
of  verses  or  songs  "  (Florio).  A  stanza  is  then  properly 
a  pause  or  resting  place,  just  as  a  verse^  Lat.  versus^  is  a 
"  turning  "  to  the  beginning  of  the  next  line. 

Different  French  dialects  have  supplied  us  with  many 
"dou^blets.  Old  Fr.  chacier  {chasser),  Vulgar  Lat.  ^captiare, 
for  captare,  a  frequentative  of  cape7^e,  to  take,  was  in 
Picard  cachier,  whence  Eng.  catch.  In  cater  (see  p.  58) 
we  have  the  Picard  form  of  Fr.  acheter /hut  the  true 
French  form  survives  in  the  family  name  Chater?-  In 
late  Latin  the  neuter  adjective  capitate^  capital,  was  used 
of  property.  This  has  given,  through  Old  Fr.  chatel, 
our  chattel^  while  the  doublet  catel  has  given  cattle^ 
now  limited  to  what  was  once  the  most  important 
form  of  property.  Fr.  cheptel  is  still  used  of  cattle 
farmed  out  on  a  kind  of  profit-sharing  system.  This 
restriction  of  the  meaning  of  ^(^///^  is  paralleled  by  Scot. 
avers ^  farm  beasts,  from  Old  P"r.  aver''-  {avoir),  property, 
goods.  The  history  of  the  word  fee,  Anglo-Sax.  feoh, 
cattle,  cognate  with  Lat.  pecus,  whence  pectmia,  money, 
and  Ger.  Vieh,  also  takes  us  back  to  the  times  when 
a  man's  wealth  was  estimated  by  his  flocks  and  herds ; 
but,  in  this  case,  the  sense  development  is  exactly 
reversed. 

Fr.  jiimeau,  twin,  was  earlier  gemeatt,  still  used  by 

^  Sometimes  this  name  is  for  cheatsr^  escheatour  (p.  78). 

2  Qf^  avoirdupois^  earlier  avers  de  pais  {poids'),  goods  sold  by  weight. 

\ 


'  •  ACCIDENTS  OF  SPELLING  133 

Corneille,  and  earlier  si\\\ gentel^  l^z^i. gemellus ^  diminutive 
of  geniimiSy  twin.  From  one  form  we  have  the  gimbals^ 
or  twin  pivots,  which  keep  the  compass  horizontal. 
Shakespeare  uses  it  of  clockwork — 

"  I  thinkj  by  some  odd  gij^wials,  or  device, 
Their  arms  are  set  like  clocks,  still  to  strike  on.'" 

(i  Henry  F7.,  i.  2.) 

and  also  speaks  of  a  givunal  bit  {Henry  V.,  iv.  2}.  In 
the  17th  century  we  find  numerous  allusions  \.o  givimal 
rings  (variously  spelt).  The  toothsome  jumble;  known 
to  the  Midlands  as  "brandy-snap,"  is  the  same  word, 
this  delicacy  having  apparently  at  one  time  been  made 
in  links.  We  may  compare  the  obsolete  ItaL  sto7'telli^ 
literally  "little  twists,"  explained  by  Torriano  (1659) 
as  "winding  simnels,  wreathed y/^;/'/^^2/i"." 

A  purely  accidental  difference  in  spelling  may  bring 
about  a  differentiation  between  two  words  which  are 
identical  in  origin  and  meaning.  Tret^  wrongly  ex- 
plained in  all  dictionaries  that  I  have  consulted,  is 
Fr.  trait^  in  Old  French  also  tret^  Lat  tractus,  pull  (of 
the  scale).  It  was  an  allowance  of  four  pounds  in  a 
hundred,  which  was  supposed  to  be  equal  to  the  sum 
of  the  "turns  of  the  scale,"  which  would  be  in  the 
purchaser's  favour  if  the  goods  were  weighed  in  small 
quantities.     Trait  is  still  so  used  in  modern  French. 

Parso7i  is  a  doublet  of  perso?t,  the  priest  perhaps 
being  taken  as  "representing"  the  Church,  for  Lat. 
persona^  an  actor's  mask,  from  per^  through,  and  sonare^ 
to  sound,  was  also  used  of  a  costumed  character  or 
dramatis  perso7ia.  Mask^  which  ultimately  belongs  to 
an  Arabic  word  meaning  buftoon,  has  had  a  sense 
development  exactly  opposite  to  that  of  person^  its 
modern  meaning  corresponding  to  the  Lat.  persona 
from    which    the    latter    started.       Parson    shows    the 

I   2 


134  DOUBLETS 

popular  pronunciation  of  ^r,  now  modified  by  the  influence 
of  traditional  spelling.  We  still  have  it  in  Berkeley^ 
clcj'k}  Dej'-by,  sergeant,  as  we  formerly  did  in  merchant. 
Proper  names,  in  which  the  orthography  depends  on 
the  "  taste  and  fancy  of  the  speller,"  or  the  phonetic 
theories  of  the  old  parish  clerk,  often  preserve  the 
older  pronunciation,  e.g.^  Clark,  Darbyshire,  Marchant, 
Sargent.  Posy,  in  both  its  senses,  is  a  contraction  of 
poesy,  the  flowers  of  a  nosegay  expressing  by  their 
arrangement  a  sentiment  like  that  engraved  on  a 
ring.     The  latter  use  is  perhaps  obsolete — 

"About  a  hoop  of  gold,  a  paltry  ring 
That  she  did  give  me  ;  whose  fosy  was 
For  all  the  world  like  ZM^X^t's,  poetry 
Upon  a  knife  :  '  Love  me  and  leave  me  not.' " 

{Merchant  of  Venice,  v.  i .) 

The  poetic  word  glamour  is  the  same  as  grammar, 
which  had  in  the  Middle  Ages  the  sense  of  mysterious 
learning.  From  the  same  source  we  have  the  French 
corruption  ^;7;;^o/r^,  "a  booke  of  conjuring"  (Cotgrave). 
Glamour  and  gramarye  were  both  revived  by  Scott — 

"  A  moment  then  the  volume  spread, 
And  one  short  spell  therein  he  read ; 
It  had  much  of ^/cj;;z(?wr  might." 

{Lay,  \\\.  9.) 

"And  how  he  sought  her  castle  high, 
That  morn,  by  help  oi  gramarye. ^^ 

{Ibid.,  V.  27.) 

For  the  change  of  r  to  /we  have  the  parallel  oi  flounce 
for  older  frotmce  (p.  55).  Quire  is  the  same  word 
as  quair,  in  the  "  King's  Quair]'  i.e.  book.  Its  Mid. 
English    form    is   quaver.  Old    Fr.   qtiaer,  caer  {cakier), 

^  Pronounced  clurk  by  uneducated  English  people  and  educated 
Americans. 


EASTERN  DOUBLETS  135 

Lat.     ^quatermnn    for    qtiaternio,    "a    quier  with   foure 
sheetes  "  (Cooper). 

A  difference  in  spelling,  originally  accidental,  but  per- 
petuated by  an  apparent  difference  of  meaning,  is  seen 
in  flour,  f.oiver ;  metal,  viettle.  Flour  is  the  flower,  i.e. 
the  finest  part,  of  meal,  Fr.  flcur  de  farine,  ''floiver,  or 
the  finest  meale"  (Cotgrave).  In  the  Nottingham 
•Guardian  (29th  Aug.  191 1)  I  read  that  ''Mrs 
Kernahan  is  among  the  increasing  number  of  persons 
who  do  not  discriminate  between  metal  and  mettle,  and 
writes  'Margaret  was  on  her  metal!''  It  might  be 
added  that  this  author  is  in  the  excellent  company  of 
Shakespeare — 

"See  whe'r  their  basest  metal  be  not  mov'd." 

{Julius  Casar,  i.  i.) 

There  is  no  more  etymological  difference  between  vietal 
and  inettle  than  between  the  "  temper "  of  a  cook  and 
that  of  a  sword-blade. 

Oriental  words  have  sometimes  come  into  the 
language  by  very  diverse  routes.  Sirup,  or  syrup, 
sherbet,  and  (^ru7}i)-shrub  are  of  identical  origin,  ulti- 
mately Arabic.  Sirup,  which  comes  through  Spanish 
and  French,  was  once  used,  like  treacle  (p.  69),  of 
medicinal  compounds— 

"  Not  poppy,  nor  mandragora, 
Nor  all  the  drowsy  syrups  of  the  world. 
Shall  ever  medicine  thee  to  that  sweet  sleep 
Which  thou  ow'dst  yesterday." 

{Othello,  iii.  3.) 

Sherbet  and  shrub  are  directly  borrowed  through  the 
medium  of  travellers — 

"'I  smoke  on  srub  and  water,  myself,'  said  Mr  Omer." 

{David  Copperjield,  Ch.  xxx.) 

Sepoy,  used  of  Indian  soldiers  in  the  English  service,  is 


136  DOUBLETS 

the  same  as  spahi^  the  French  name  for  the  Algerian 
cavalry. 

Tulip  is  from  Fr.  titlipe^  formerly  ttilipan,  "  the 
delicate  flower  called  a  tulipa^  Udipie^  or  Dalmatian 
cap"  (Cotgrave).  It  is  a  doublet  of  turban.  The 
German  Ttdpe  was  also  earlier  Tidipan. 

The  humblest  of  medieval  coins  was  the  ma'/avedi^ 
v/hich  came  from  Spain  at  an  early  date,  though  not 
early  enough  for  Robin  Hood  to  have  said  to  Isaac  of 
York,  "  I  will  strip  thee  of  every  maravedi  thou  hast  in 
the  world  "  {Ivardioe^  Ch.  xxxiii.).  The  name  is  due  to 
the  Moorish  dynasty  of  the  Al-vioravides  or  Marabouts. 
The  Arab.  7narabit  means  hermit,  and  the  name  was 
p-iven  also  to  a  kind  of  stork,  the  mai^abotit,  on  account 
of  the  solitary  and  sober  habits  which  have  earned  for 
him  in  India  the  name  adjutant  (p.  30). 

Cipher  d.v\d  zero  do  not  look  like  doublets,  but  both 
of  them  come  from  the  same  Arabic  word.  The 
medieval  Lat.  zephyrum  connects  the  two  forms. 
Crimson  and  carmine^  the  first  French  and  the  second 
Spanish,  both  belong  to  kermes^  the  cochineal  insect,  of 
Arabic  origin. 

The  relationship  between  cipher  and  zero  is  perhaps 
better  disguised  than  that  between  furnish  and  veneen 
though  this  is  by  no  means  obvious.  Veneer ^  spelt 
jineer  by  Smollett,  is  Q&x.  fournieren,  borrowed  from  Fr. 
fou7'nir^  and  specialised  in  meaning.  Ebers'  German 
Dict.{i7g6)  h^s,  ftirnieren,  "to  inlay  with  several  sorts 
of  wood,  to  veneer." 

The  doublets  selected  for  discussion  among  the 
hundreds  which  exist  in  the  language  reveal  many 
etymological  relationships  which  would  hardly  be 
suspected  at  first  sight.     Many  other  words  might  be 

1  Our  verbs  in  -isk  are  from  the  -iss-  stem  of  French  verbs  in  -ir.     This 
-j5j-,  as  m/ournissantf  represents  the  -isc  of  Latin  inchoative  verbs. 


SERGEANT— BANJO  137 

quoted  which  are  almost  doublets.  Thus  sergeant, 
Fr.  sergent,  Lat.  servieyis,  sejineyit-,  is  almost  a  doublet  of 
servant^  the  present  participle  of  Fr.  servir.  The  fabric 
called  drill  or  drilli7ig  is  from  Ger.  Drillich^  "tick, 
linnen-cloth  woven  of  three  threads "  (Ludwig).  This 
is  an  adaptation  of  Lat.  trilix^  trilic-,  which,  through 
Fr.  treillis^  has  given  Eng.  trellis.  We  may  compare 
the  older  twill^  of  Anglo-Saxon  origin,  cognate  with 
Ger.  Zzvilch  or  Zwillich^  "  linnen  woven  with  a 
double  thread "  (Ludwig).  Robe^  from  French,  is  cog- 
nate with  rob^  Ger.  Raid),  booty,  the  conqueror  decking 
himself  in  the  spoils  of  the  conquered.  Musk  is  a 
doublet  of  meg  in  7mtjneg,  Fr.  noix  vmscade.  In  Mid. 
English  we  find  7tote-7nuggey  and  Cotgrave  has  the 
diminutive  inugiiette,  "  a  nutmeg " ;  cf.  modern  Fr. 
viuguet,  the  lily  of  the  valley.  Fr.  diner^  Old  Fr.  disner, 
and  d^jetiJier,  both  represent  Vulgar  Lat  *dis-jii7iare,  to 
break  fast,  (romjejuniiSy  fasting.  The  difference  of  form 
is  due  to  the  shifting  of  the  accent  in  the  Latin  conjuga- 
tion, e.g.,  dis-jimdre  gives  disner,  while  dis-jYinat  gives 
Old  Fr.  desjiine. 

Admiral,  earlier  amiral,  comes  through  French  from 
the  Arab.  ^;;//r,  an  emir.  Its  Old  French  forms  are 
numerous,  and  the  one  which  has  survived  in  English 
may  be  taken  as  an  abbreviation  of  Arab,  amir  al  baJir, 
emir  on  the  sea.  Greco-Lat. /'f?;//^'/^^^,  a  stringed  instru- 
ment, has  produced  an  extraordinary  number  of  cor- 
ruptions, among  which  some  philologists  rank  vmndoli?ie. 
Eng.  bandore,  now  obsolete,  was  once  a  fairly  common 
word,  and  from  it,  or  from  some  cognate  Romance  form, 
comes  the  negro  corruption  banjo — 

"'What  is  this,  mamma?  it  is  not  a  guitar,  is  it?'  '  No>  my 
dear,  it  is  called  a  banjore ;  it  is  an  African  instrument,  of  which 
the  negroes  are  particularly  fond.'"  (Miss  Edgev/orth,  Belinda, 
Ch.  xviii.) 


138  DOUBLETS 

Florio  has  pandora^  pandura,  "  a  musical  instrument 
with  three  strings,  a  kit,  a  croude/  a  rebecke."  Kit, 
used  by  Dickens — 

"  He  had  a  little  fiddle,  which  at  school  we  used  to  call  a  kit^ 
iiTider  his  left  arm."    {Bleak  House,  Ch.  xiv.) 

seems  to  be  a  clipped  form  from  Old  French  dialect 
qmterne,  for  guiterne,  Greco  -  Lat.  cithara.  Cotgrave 
explains  jncmdore  as  a  "  kitt,  small  gitterne."  The 
doublet  guitar  is  from  Spanish. 

The  two  pretty  words  dimity  and  samite  have  been 
brought  into  connection  by  folk-etymology.  Dimity  is 
the  plural  dimiti  ol  Ital.  dimito,  "  a  kind  of  course  cotton 
or  flanell "  (Florio),  from  Greco  -  Lat.  dimitiis,  double 
thread  (cf.  twill).  Samite,  Old  Fr.  samit,  whence  Ger. 
Samt,  velvet,  is  in  medieval  Latin  hexamitus,  six-thread  ; 
but  this  is  a  popular  corruption  of  an  Arabic  original. 
The  Italian  form  is  sciainito,  "a  kind  of  sleave,  feret,  or 
filosello  silke  "  (Florio).  The  word  feret  used  here  by 
Florio  is  from  Ital.  jioretto,  little  flower.  It  was  also 
Q.2\\^di  floret  silk.  Florio  explains  the  '^\mx2X  fioretti  as 
*'  a  kind  of  course  silke  called  f{r)oret  or  ferret  silke," 
and  Cotgrave  hdisfleiiret,  "  course  s\\kQ,  floret  silke."  The 
word  is  not  obsolete  in  the  sense  of  tape — 

"  'Twas  so  fram'd  and  express'd  no  tribunal  could  shake  it, 
Ar.d  firm  as  red  wax  and  black/^rr^/  could  make  it." 

(INGOLDSBY,  The  Houseiv arming.) 

Parish  and  diocese  are  closely  related, /<^r/.f//,  Yx.paroisse, 
representing  Greco -Lat.  par-oikia  (oTKog,  a  house), 
and  diocese  coming  through  Old  French  from  Greco- 
Lat.  di-oikesis.  Skirt  is  the  Scandinavian  doublet  of 
shirt,  from  Vulgar  Lat.  ex-ctirtus,  which  has  also  given 
us  short.  The  form  without  the  prefix  appears  in  Fr. 
court,  Ger.  kurz,  and  Eng.  kirtle — "  What  stuff  wilt  have 
^  See  Crowther,  p.  164, 


VILLAIN— jVEENAGERDS  139 

a  kirtle  of?"  (2  Henry  IV.,  ii.  4).     These  are  all  very 
early  loan  words. 

A  new  drawing-room  game  for  amateur  philologists 
would    be  to  trace  relationships   between  words  which. 
have  no   apparent   connection.      In   discussing,   a    few 
years  ago,  a  lurid  book  on  the  "  Mysteries  of  Modern 
London,"  Punch  remarked  that  the  existence  of  a  villa 
seemed    to   be  proof  presumptive  of  that  of  a  villain. 
This  is  etymologically  true.     An  Old  French  vilain^  "  a 
villaine,  slave,  bondman,  servile  tenant "  (Cotgrave),  was 
a  peasant  attached   to  his  lord's  ville  or  domain,  Lat. 
villa.       For    the    degeneration    in    meaning   we    may 
compare  Eng.  boor  and  churl,  and  Fr.  Dianant,  a  clod- 
hopper, lit.  a  dweller  (see  ina?ior,  p.  8).     A  butcher,  Fr. 
boucher,  must  originally  have  dealt  in  goat's  flesh,  Fr. 
bouc,   goat ;  cf.    Ital.   beccaio,    butcher,   and   becco,   goat. 
Hence  butcher  and  buck  are  related.     The  extension  of 
meaning  of  broker,  an  Anglo-French  form  of  brocheur, 
shows  the  importance  of  the  wine  trade  in  the  Middle 
Ages.     A  broker  was  at  first  one  w^ho  "  broached  "  casks 
with  a  broche,  which  means  in  modern  French  both  brooch 
and  spit.    The  essential  part  of  a  brooch  is  the  pin  or  spike. 
When     Kent     says     that      Cornwall     and     Regan 
"  summon'd  up  their  iiieiny,  straight  took  horse  "  {Lear, 
ii.  4),  he  is  using  a  common  Mid.  English  and  Tudor 
word    which   comes,    through    Old    Fr.    viaisniee,    from 
Vulgar    Lat.  *inansio?uzta,  a   houseful.     A  menial  is    a 
member    of    such    a    body.      An    Italian    cognate    is 
masnadiere,    "a    ruffler,   a    swashbuckler,   a    swaggerer, 
a  high  way  theefe,  a  hackster  "  (Florio).     Those  inclined 
to  moralise  may  see  in  these  words   a   proof  that  the 
arrogance   of  the  great  man's  flunkey   was   curbed  in 
England  earlier  than  in  Italy.     Old  Fr.  inaisniee  is  now 
replaced    by  vie'nage,  Vulgar   Lat.    ^^viansionaticujn.     A 
derivative  of  this  word  is  menagerie,  first  applied  to  the 


140  ^  DOUBLETS 

collection   of  household  animals,  but  now   to  a   "wild 
beast  show." 

A  bonfire  was  formerly  a  bonefire.  We  find  bane- 
fire,  "  ignis  ossium,"  in  a  Latin  dictionary  of  1483,  and 
Cooper  explains  pyra  by  ^^  bo?iefire^  wherein  men's 
bodyes  were  burned."  Apparently  the  word  is  due  to 
the  practice  of  burning  the  dead  after  a  victory. 
Kexham  has  bone-ficre,  "een  been-vier^  dat  is,  als  men 
victorie  brandt."  Walnut  is  related  to  IVa/es,  Cornzaal/, 
the  Walloons,  IVallsichis.  and  Sir  William  WalldiCe.  It 
means  "foreign"  nut.  This  very  wide  spread  zual  is 
supposed  to  represent  the  Celtic  tribal  name  Volcce.  It 
was  applied  by  the  English  to  the  Celts,  and  by  the 
Germans  to  the  French  and  Italians,  especially  the 
latter,  whence  the  earlier  Ger.  welsche  Nicss,  for  Walmcss. 
The  German  Swiss  use  it  of  the  French  Swiss,  hence 
the  canton  Wallis  or  Valais.  The  Old  French  name 
for  the  wabmt  is  7ioix  gauge,  Lat.  Gallica.  The  relation 
of  umbrella  to  umber  is  pretty  obvious.  The  former  is 
Italian,  "a  little  shadow,  a  little  round  thing  that 
women  bare  in  their  hands  to  shadow  them.  Also  a 
broad  brimd  hat  to  keepe  off  heate  and  rayne.  Also  a 
kinde  of  round  thing  like  a  round  skreene  that  gentlemen 
use  in  Italie  in  time  of  sommer  or  when  it  is  very  hote, 
to  keepe  the  sunne  from  them  when  they  are  riding  by 
the  way  (Florio)."     Umber  is  Fr.  terre  d'ombre — 

"  I'll  put  myself  in  poor  and  mean  attire. 
And  with  a  kind  of  umber  smirch  my  face." 

(^As  You  Like  If,  i.  3.) 

Ballad,  originally  a  dancing  song,  Prov.  ballada,  is  a 
doublet  of  ballet,  and  thus  related  to  ball  We  find  a 
late  Lat.  ballare,  to  dance,  in  Saint  Augustine,  but  the 
history  of  this  group  of  words  is  obscure.  The  sense 
development  of  carol  is  very  like  that  of  ballad.  It  \s 
from  Old  Fr.  carolle,  "  a  kinde  of  dance  wherein  many 


CAROL— NA\TE  141 

may  dance  together;  also,  a  carroll,  or  Christmas  song  " 
(Cotgrave).  The  form  co7'oIla  is  found  in  Provencal,  and 
carolle  in  Old  French  is  commonly  used,  like  Ger.  Kranz^ 
garland,  and  Lat.  corona^  of  a  social  or  festive  ring  of 
people.  Hence  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
origin  of  the  word  is  Lat.  corolla,  a  little  garland. 

Many  "chapel  "  people  would  be  shocked  to  know 
that  chapel  means  properly  the  sanctuary  in  which  a 
saint's  relics  are  deposited.  The  name  was  first  applied 
to  the  chapel  in  which  was  preserved  the  cape  or  cloak 
of  St  Martin  of  Tours.  Ger.  Kapelle  also  means 
orchestra  or  military  band.  The  doublet  capel  survives 
in  Capel  Cqui't,  near  the  Exchange.  Tocsin  is  literally 
"touch  sign."  Fr.  toqucr,  to  tap,  beat,  cognate  with 
touch,  survives  in  "  tuck  of  drum  "  and  tucket — 

"Then  let  the  trumpets  sound  _.  ^  . 

The  tticket  sonance  and  the  note  to  mount." 

{Henry  K,  iv.  2.) 

while  sinet,  the  diminutive  of  Old  Fr.  siri^  sign,  has  given 
sen?iet,  common  in  the  stage  directions  of  Elizabethan 
plays  in  a  sense  very  similar  to  that  of  tucket. 

Jjinket,  Old  Fr.  joncade,  "  a  certaine  spoone-meat, 
made  of  creame,  rose-water,  and  sugar"  (Cotgrave),  Ital. 
giuncata,  "a  kinde  of  fresh  cheese  and  creame,  so 
called  bicause  it  is  brought  to  market  upon  rushes ; 
also  a  junket''''  (Fiorio),  is  related  to  jonquil,  which 
comes,  through  French,  from  Span,  juiiquillo,  a 
diminutive  from  Lat.  juncus,  rush.  The  plant  is 
named  from  its  rush-like  leaves.  Ditto,  Itahan,  lit. 
"  said,"  and  ditty.  Old  Fr.  dite,  are  both  past  participles, 
from  the  Latin  verbs  dico  and  dicto  respectively.  The 
nave  of  a  church  is  from  Fr.  7ief,  still  occasionally  used 
in  poetry  in  its  original  sense  of  ship,  Lat.  7iavis.  It  is 
thus    related    to    navy,  Old    Fr.  navie,  a  derivative    of 


142  DOUBLETS 

jiavis.     Similarly  Ger.   Schiff  is  used  in  the  sense  of 
nave,  though  the  metaphor  is  variously  explained. 

The  old  word  cole^  cabbage,  its  north  country  and 
Scottish  equivalent  kail^  Fr.  choii  (Old  Fr.  choV)^  and 
Ger.  Kolil,  are  all  from  Lat.  caulis^  cabbage ;  cf.  caidi- 
flower.  We  have  the  Dutch  form  in  colza^  which  comes, 
through  French,  from  Du.  kool-zaad^  cabbage  seed. 
Cabbage  itself  is  Fr.  caboche^  a  Picard  derivative  of  Lat. 
capiit^  head.  In  modern  French  caboche  corresponds  to 
our  vulgar  *' chump."  A  goshawk  is  3.  goose  hawk^  so 
called  from  its  preying  on  poultry.  Merino  is  related  to 
viayo7\  which  comes,  through  French,  from  Lat.  maior^ 
greater.  Span.  meri7iOj  Vulgar  Lat.  *  7najori?niSy  means 
both  a  magistrate  and  a  superintendent  of  sheep-walks. 
From  the  latter  meaning  comes  that  of  "  sheepe  driven 
from  the  winter  pastures  to  the  sommer  pastures,  or  the 
wooll  of  those  sheepe  "  (Percy vail).  Portcullis  is  from 
Old  Yx.porte  coulisse ^  sY\6.m%  door.  Fr.  cozdisse  is  still 
used  of  many  sliding  contrivances,  especially  in  connec- 
tion with  stage  scenery,  but  in  the  portcullis  sense  it  is 
replaced  by  herse  (see  p.  6%^,  except  in  the  language  of 
heraldry.  The  masculine  form  coiilis  means  a  clear 
broth,  or  cullis^  as  it  was  called  in  English  up  to  the 
1 8th  century.  This  suggests  colander,  which,  like  port- 
cullis, belongs  to  Lat.  colare,  "to  streine"  (Cooper), 
whence  Fr.  couler,  to  flow. 

Solder,  formerly  spelt  sowder  or  sodder,  and  still  so 
pronounced  by  the  plumber,  represents  Fr.  soudure, 
from  the  verb  souder ;  cf.  batter,  from  Old  Fr.  batture, 
and  fritter,  from  Fr.  friture.  The  French  verb  is  from 
Lat.  solidare,  to  consolidate.  Fr.  sou,  formerly  sol,  a 
halfpenny,  is  said  to  come  from  Lat.  solidus,  the 
meaning  of  which  appears  also  in  the  Italian  participle 
soldato,  a  paid  man.  The  Italian  word  has  passed  into 
French    and    German,   displacing    the    older    cognates 


SOLDIER  143 

soudard  and  Soldner^  which  now  have  a  depreciatory 
sense.  Eng.  soldier  is  of  Old  French  origin.  It  is 
represented  in  medieval  Latin  by  sol(J)darms^  glossed 
sowdeor  in  a  vocabulary  of  the  15th  century.  As  in 
solder^  the  /  has  been  reintroduced  by  learned  influence, 
but  the  vulgar  sodgcr  is  nearer  the  original  pro- 
nunciation. 


CHAPTER   XI 

HOMONYMS 

Modern  English  contains  some  six  or  seven  hundred 
pairs  or  sets  of  homonyms,  z>.,  of  words  identical  in 
sound  and  spelling  but  differing  in  meaning  and  origin. 
The  New  English  Dictionary  recognises  provisionally 
nine  separate  nouns  rack.  The  subject  is  a  difficult 
one  to  deal  with,  because  one  word  sometirnes  develops 
such  apparently  different  meanings  that  the  original 
identity  becomes  obscured,  and  even,  as  we  have  seen 
in  the  case  oi  flour  and  mettle  (p.  135),  a  difference  of 
spelling  may  result.  When  Denys  of  Burgundy  said 
to  the  physician,  "Go  to!  He  was  no  fool  who  first 
called  you  leeckesl^  he  was  certainly  unaware  that 
the  tv/o  leeches  are  identical,  from  Anglo-Sax.  Icece^ 
healer.  On  the  other  hand,  a  resemblance  of  form 
may  bring  about  a  contamination  of  meaning.  The 
verb  to  gloss,  or  gloze^  means  simply  to  explain  or 
translate,  Greco-Lat.  glossa,  tongue,  etc. ;  but,  under 
the  influence  of  the  unrelated  gloss,  superficial  lustre, 
it  has  acquired  the  sense  of  specious  interpretation. 
That  part  of  a  helmet  called  the  beaver — 

"  I  saw  young  Harry,  with  his  beaver  on, 
His  cuisses  on  his  thigh,  gallantly  arm'd, 
Rise  from  the  ground  like  feather'd  Mercury." 

(i  Henry  IV.,  iv.  i.) 

Ill 


:\IAILED  FIST  145 

has,  of  course,  no  connection  with  the  animal  whose 
fur  has  been  used  for  some  centuries  for  expensive 
hats.  It  comes  from  Old  Fr.  baviere,  a  child's  bib,  now 
replaced  by  bavette,  from  baver,  to  slobber. 

It  may  be  noted  en  passa?it  that  many  of  the 
revived  medieval  words  which  sound  so  picturesque 
in  Scott  are  of  very  prosaic  origin.     Thus  the  basnet — 

"My  basnet  to  a  prentice  cap, 
Lord  Surrey's  o^er  the  Till." 

{Martnion,  vi.  21.) 

or  close-fitting  steel  cap  worn  under  the  ornamental 
helmet,  is  Fr.  bassinet^  a  little  basin.  It  was  also  called 
a  kettle  hat^  or  pot.  Another  obsolete  name  given  to 
a  steel  cap  was  a  privy  pallet,  from  Fr.  palette,  a  barber's 
bowl,  a  "helmet  of  Mambrino."  To  a  brilliant  living 
monarch  we  owe  the  phrase  "  mailed  fist,"  a  translation 
of  Gqv,  gepanserte  Faust.  Panzer,  a  cuirass,  is  etymo- 
logically  a  panncher,  or  defence  for  the  paunch.  We 
may  compare  an  article  of  female  apparel,  which  took 
its  name  from  a  more  polite  name  for  this  part  of 
the  anatomy,  and  which  Shakespeare  uses  even  in  the 
sense  of  Panzer.  Imogen,  taking  the  papers  from  her 
bosom,  says —  "" 

"What  is  here? 
The  scriptures  of  the  loyal  Leonatus, 
All  turn'd  to  heresy?     Away,  away, 
Corrupters  of  my  faith  !     You  shall  no  more 

Be  stomachers  to  my  heart." 

{Cymbeline,  iii.  4.) 

Sometimes  homonyms  seem  to  be  due  to  the  lowest 
type  of  folk-etymology,  the  instinct  for  making  an 
unfamiliar  word  "look  lil  e  something"  (see  p.  118  foot- 
note). To  this  instinct  we  owe  the  nautical  cotn- 
panion  (p.  153).  Trepan,  lor  trapan,  to  entrap,  cannot 
have  been  confused  with  the  surgical  trepan  (p.    loi), 

K 


146  HOMONYMS 

although  it  has  been  assimilated  to  it.  ■  The  compound' 
in  which  the  victims  of  "  Chinese  slavery  "  languished 
is  the  Malay  kampong^  an  enclosure. 

The  scent  called  hergamot  takes  its  name  from 
Bergamo ^  in  Italy,  whence  also  Shakespeare's  bergomask 
dance — 

"  Will  It  please  you  to  see  the  epilogue,  or  hear  a  Bergomask 
dance  between  two  of  our  company  ? " 

{Midsum7ner  Nights  Dream^  v.  i.) 

but  the  bcrgaviot  pear  is  derived  from  Turkish  beg 
armudi^  prince's  pear.  With  beg^  prince,  cf  bey  and 
begum.  The  burden  of  a  song  is  from  Fr.  bourdon^ 
"  a  drone,  or  dorre-bee ;  also,  the  humming,  or  buzzing, 
of  bees;  also,  the  drone  of  a  bag-pipe"  (Cotgrave).  It 
is  of  doubtful  origin,  but  is  not  related  to  burden^  a  load, 
which  is  connected  with  the  verb  to  bear. 

To  cashier^  i.e.^  break,  a  soldier,  is  from  Du.  casseerejt^ 
which  is  borrowed  from  Fr.  casser,  to  break,  Lat. 
quassare,  frequentative  of  quatere^  to  shatter.  In  the  i6th 
and  i7th  centuries  we  also  find  cass  and  cash^  which  are 
thus  doublets  of  quash.  Cotgrave  has  casser^  "to  casse^ 
cassere^  discharge."  The  past  participle  of  the  obsolete 
verb  to  cass  is  still  in  military  use — 

"  But  the  colonel  said  he  must  go,  and  he  (the  drum  horse)  was 
cast  in  due  form  and  replaced  by  a  washy,  bay  beast,  as  ugly  as 
a  mule."     (Kipling,  The  Rout  of  the  White  Hussars.) 

The  other  cashier  is  of  Italian  origin.  He  takes  charge 
of  the  cash^  which  formerly  meant  "counting-house," 
and  earlier  still  "safe,"  from  Ital.  cassa^  "a  merchant's 
cashe^  or  counter"  (Florio).  This  comes  from  Lat. 
capsa,  a  coffer,  so  that  cash  is  a  doublet  of  case,  Fr. 
caisse.  Cf.  the  goldsmith's  te;m  chase,  for  enchase,  Fr. 
enchdsser,  "  to  enchace,  or  set  in  gold,  etc. "  (Cotgrave), 
from  chdsse,  coffer,  shrine,  al  Jo  from  Lat.  capsa.  From 
the  same  word  comes  (winr'ow)  sash. 


GA:VIM0N— ]VIANNER  147 

Gammon^  from  Mid.  Eng.  gmnen^  now  reduced  to 
game,  survives  as  a  slang  word  and  also  in  the  com- 
pound backgaynmoii.  In  a  ganunon  of  bacon  we  have 
the  Picard  form  of  Fr.  janibon,  a  ham,  an  augmentative 
of  jai7ibe,  \Qg.  Cotgrave  has  jambon,  "a  gaynmonr 
Gambit  is  related,  from  Ital.  ga7nbetto,  "a  tripping  up 
of  one's  heels "  (Torriano).  A  game  leg  is  in  dialect  a 
gam7ny  leg.  This  is  Old  Fr.  gambi,  "  bent,  crooked, 
bowed  "  (Cotgrave),  which  is  still  used  in  some  French 
dialects  in  the  sense  of  lame.  It  comes  from  the  same 
Celtic  root  3.sjambe,  etc. 

Host,  an  army,  now  used  only  poetically  or  meta- 
phorically, IS  from  Old  Fr.  ost,  army,  Lat.  hostis.  The 
host  who  receives  us  is  Old  Fr.  oste  (Jiote),  Lat.  hospes, 
hospit-,  guest.  These  two  hosts  are,  however,  ultimately 
related.  It  is  curious  that,  while  modern  Fr.  hole 
(Jiospes)  means  both  "host"  and  "guest,"  the  other 
host  (Jiostis)  is,  very  far  back,  a  doublet  of  guest,  the 
ground  meaning  of  both  being  "  stranger."  "  It  is 
remarkable  in  what  opposite  directions  the  Germans 
and  Romans  have  developed  the  meaning  of  the  old 
hereditary  name  for  'stranger.'  To  the  Roman  the 
stranger  becomies  an  enemy ;  among  the  Germans  he 
enjoys  the  greatest  privileges,  a  striking  confirmation 
of  what  Tacitus  tells  us  in  his  Gcrrnaniar'^  In  a' dog 
kennel  we  have  the  Norman  form  of  Fr.  cJienil,  related 
to  chien,  but  kennel,  a  gutter — 

*'■  Go,  hop  me  over  every  kennel  home." 

{Ta?nzng  of  the  Shrew,  iv.  3,) 

is  a  doublet  of  chaiinel  and  canal. 

"  O  villain !  thou  stolest  a  cup  of  sack  eighteen 
years  ago,  and  wert  taken  with  the  7na?iner,"  says 
Prince  Hal  to  Bardolph  (i  He?iry  IV.,  ii.  4).  In  the 
old  editions  this  is  spelt  7nanotir  or  7nainour  and  means 

^  Kluge,  Etymologisckes  Worterhuch^  Strassburg,  1899,  s.v.  Cast. 


148  HOMONYMS 

"  in  the  act."  It  is  an  Anglo-French  doublet  of 
manceuvre,  late  Lat.  manu-opera^  handiwork,  and  is  thus 
related  to  its  homonym  inannery  Fr.  maniere^  from 
manier^  to  handle.  Another  doublet  of  manceiivre  is 
ma?mrey  now  a  euphemism  for  dung,  but  formerly  used 
of  the  act  of  tillage — 

"  The  manuring  hand  of  the  tiller  shall  root  up  all  that  burdens 
the  soil."    (Milton,  Reason  of  Church  Govemrnerit) 

hiiire  is  similarly  formed  from  Old  French  enceuvrer^ 
literally  "to  work  in,"  hence  to  accustom  to  toil. 

John  Gilpin's  "good  friend  the  calender"  has  nothing 
to  do  with  the  calendar  which  indicates  the  calends  of 
the  month,  nor  with  the  calender^  or  Persian  monk,  of 
the  Arabian  Nights,  whom  Mr  Pecksniff  described  as 
a  "  one-eyed  almanack."  The  verb  to  calender,  to  press 
and  gloss  cloth,  etc.,  is  from  Old  Fr.  calendrer  {calandrer\ 
"  to  sleeke,  smooth,  plane,  or  polish,  linnen  cloth,  ,etc." 
(Cotgrave).  This  word  is  generally  considered  to  be 
related  to  cylinder,  a  conjecture  which  is  supported 
by  obsolete  Fr.  calende,  used  of  the  "  rollers  "  by  means 
of  which  heavy  stones  are  moved. 

A  craft,  or  association  of  masters,  was  once  called 
a  mistery  (for  mastery  or  maistrie),  usually  misspelt 
mystery  by  association  'with  a  word  of  quite  different 
origin  and  meaning.  This  accidental  resemblance  is 
often  played  on — 

"Painting,  sir,  I  have  heard  say,  is  a  mystery;  but  what 
mystery  there  should  be  in  hanging,  if  I  should  be  hanged,  I  cannot 
imagine."     {Measure  for  Measure,  iv.  2.) 

For  the  pronunciation,  cf.  7nister,  for  master,  and 
inistressy  The  French  for  "mistery"  is  metier,  q.^xX\^x 
ynestier,    "a    trade,    occupation,    misterie,    handicraft" 

^  Now  abbreviated  to  miss  in  a  special  sense. 


PAWN— QUAilRY  149 

(Cotgrave),  from  Old  Fr.  7naistier,  Lat.  magisterium. 
In  its  other  senses  Fr.  metier  represents  Lat  minister iuni, 
service. 

Pawn,  a  pledge,  is  from  Old  Fr.  pan,  with  the  same 
meaning.  The  origin  of  this  word,  cognates  of  which 
occur  in  the  Germanic  languages,  is  unknown.  The 
paw7i  at  chess  is  Fr.  pion,  a  pawn,  formerly  also  a  foot- 
soldier,  used  contemptuously  in  modern  French  for  a 
junior  assistant  master.  This  represents  a  Vulgar  Lat. 
*pedOy  pedan-y  from  pes,  foot ;  cf.  Span,  peon,  "  a  footeman, 
a  pawne  at  chesse,  a  pioner,  or  laborer"  (Percyvall). 
In  German  the  paw7i  is  called  Batter,  peasant,  a  name 
also  given  to  the  knave  in  the  game  of  euchre,  whence 
American  bower^ — 

"At  last  he  put  down  a  right  bower  (knave  of  trumps), 
Which  the  same  Nye  had  dealt  unto  me." 

(Bret  Harte,  The  Heathen  dunce.) 

When  Jack  Bunco  says,  "  There  v/ill  be  the  devil  to 
pay,  and  no  pitch  hot"  (Scott,  T/ie  Pirate,  Ch.  xxxviii.), 
he  is  using  a  nautical  term  which  has  no  connection  vv^ith 
Fr.  payer.  To  pay,  i.e.  to  pitch,  is  from  Old  Yx.peier  or 
poier,  \.2X. picare,  from  pix,  pitch.  Fr.  Union,  a  lime,  has 
given  Eng.  le^non^^  but  '' le/non  sole''  is  from  Fr.  liniande, 
a  flat-fish,  dab.  A  quarry  from  which  stone  is  obtained 
was  formerly  quarrer,  Old  Fr.  qiiarriere  {carriere),  a 
derivative  of  Lat.  quadrus  ;  cf.  quadraiarins, ''  a  squarer 
of  marble"  (Cooper).  The  quarry  of  the  hunter  has 
changed  its  form  and  meaning.  In  i\Iid.  English  we 
find  quarre  and  quirr^,  from  Old  Fr.  cuiree,  now  curee, 
"  a  (dog's)  reward  ;  the  hounds'  fees  of,  or  part  in,  the 
game  they  have  killed  "  (Cotgrave).  The  Old  French 
form  means  "skinful"  {zi.  poignee,  fistful),  the  hounds' 
reward  being  spread    on  the  skin  of  the  slain  animal. 

^  The  Bowiry  of  New  York  was  formerly  a  homestead. 
^  In  modem  French  the  lemon  is  called  ciircn  and  the  citron  cidrat. 

K  2 


150  ^  HOMONYMS 

It  is  thus  related  to  cuirass^  originally  used  of  leathern 
armour.  In  Shakespeare  quarry  usually  means  a  heap 
of  dead  game — 

"  Would  the  nobility  lay  aside  their  ruth," 
And  let  me  use  my  sword,  I'd  make  a  quarry 
With  thousands  of  these  quarter'd  slaves,  as  high 
As  I  could  pick  my  lance." 

{Co7^olanuSj  i.  i.) 

In  modern  English  it  is  applied  rather  to  the  animal 
pursued.  Related  to  the  first  quarry  is  quarrel^  the 
square  -  headed  bolt  shot  from  a  crossbow.  Old  Fr. 
carrel.  The  modern  Fr.  carreaic  is  used  of  many  four- 
sided  objects,  e.g.^  a  square  tile,  the  diamond  at  cards,  a 
pane  of  glass.  In  the  last  sense  both  qv.arrel  and  quarry 
are  still  used  by  glaziers. 

In  a ''  school  oi  porpoises  "  we  have  the  Dutch  doublet 
of  shoaL  The  older  spelling  is  scull  {Troilus  and 
Cresszda,  v.  5).  A  sorrel  horse  and  the  plant  called 
sorrel  are  both  French  words  of  German  origin.  The 
adjective,  used  in  venery  of  a  buck  of  the  third  year,  is  a 
diminutive  of  Old  Fr.  j^r,  which  survives  in  hareng  saur^ 
red  herring,  and  is  cognate  with  Eng.  sear — 

"  The  sear^  the  yellow  leaf." 

{Macbeth^  v.  3.) 

The  plant  name  is  related  to  souk  Its  modern  French 
form  surelle  occurs  now  only  in  dialect,  having  been 
superseded  by  oseille,  which  appears  to  be  due  to  the 
mixture  of  two  words  meaning  sour,  sharp,  viz..  Vulgar 
Lat.  '^acetula  and  Greco-Lat.  oxalis.  The  verb  tattoo^  to 
adorn  the  skin  with  patterns,  is  Polynesian.  The 
military  tattoo  is  Dutch.  It  was  earlier  tap-to^  and  was  the 
signal  for  closing  the  **  taps  "  or  taverns.  Cf.  Ger.  Zapfen- 
streich^  lit.  tap-stroke,  the  name  of  a  play  which  was 
produced  a  few  years  ago  in  London  under  the  title 
"  Lights     Out."       Ludwig     explains     Zapfenschlag    or 


TASSEL—TOUCHY  151 

Zapfenstreich,  as   "die  Zeit   da   die  Soldaten    aus  den 
Schencken  heimgehen  miissen,  the  tapioiv!' 
Tassel,  in  "  tassel  gentle  " — 

"  O,  for  a  falconer's  voice, 
To  lure  this  /ajj-^-Z-gentle  back  again." 

{Ro7?ieo  and  Juliet^  ii.  2.) 

is  for  tercel  or  tiercel^  the  male  hawk,  "so  tearmed, 
because  he  is,  commonly,  a  third  part  less  than  the 
female"  (Cotgrave,  s.v.  tiercelet).  The  true  reason  for 
the  name  is  doubtful.  The  pendent  ornament  called  a 
tassel  is  a  diminutive  of  Mid.  Eng.  tasse^  a  heap,  bunch, 
Fr.  tas.     Tent  wine  is  Span,  vino  tinto,  i.e.^  coloured — 

"Of  this  last  there's  little  comes  over  right,  therefore  the 
vintners  make  Tent  (which  is  a  name  for  all  wines  in  Spain, 
except  white)  to  supply  the  place  of  it'"'  (Howell,  Fajniliar  Letters^ 
1634). 

The  other  tent  is  from  the  Old  French  past  participle 
of  tendre,  to  stretch. 

The  Shakesperian  tUterance — 

"  Rather  than  so,  come,  fate,  into  the  list, 
And  champion  me  to  the  utterance.''^ 

{Macdeik,  iii.  i.) 
is  the   Fr.   mitrance,  in   co7nbat  a   mitran^e^   ?>.,  to   the 
extreme,  which  belongs  to  Lat.  tiltra.     It  is  quite  un- 
connected with  the  verb  to  utter^  from  out. 

We  have  seen  how,  in  the  case  of  some  homo- 
nyms, confusion  arises,  and  a  popular  connection  is 
established,  between  words  which  are  quite  unrelated. 
The  same  sort  of  association  often  springs  up  between 
words  which,  without  being  homon}'ms,  have  some 
accidental  resemblance  in  form  or  meaning,  or  in  both. 
Such  association  may  bring  about  curious  changes  in 
form  and    meaning.      Touchy^  which    now  conveys  the 

idea  of  sensitiveness  to  tmich^  is  corrupted  from  tetchy 

"  Tetchy  and  wayward  was  thy  infancy."    {Richard  111.^  iv.  4.) 


152  HOMONYMS 

The  original  meaning  was  something  like  "infected, 
tainted,"  from  Old  Fr.  teche  {tache)^  a  spot.  The  word 
surro2i?id  has  completely  changed  its  meaning  through 
association  with  round.  It  comes  from  Old  Fr.  suronder^ 
to  overflow,  Lat.  super-u7idare^  and  its  meaning  and 
origin  were  quite  clear  to  the  16th-century  lexico- 
graphers. Thus  Cooper  has  zmmdo,  "to  overflowe,  to 
surround."  A  French  bishop  carries  a  crosse^  and  an 
archbishop  a  croix.  These  words  are  of  separate  origin. 
From  crosse^  which  does  not  mean  "cross,"  comes  our 
derivative  crosier^  carried  by  both  bishops  and  arch- 
bishops. It  is  etymologically  identical,  as  its  shape 
suggests,  with  the  shepherd's  crook^  and  the  bat  used 
in  playing  lacrosse. 

The  prophecy  of  the  pessimistic  osfler  ihcLt,  owing  to 
motor-cars — 

"  Osses  soon  will  all  be  in  the  circusses, 
And  if  you  want  an  ostler^  try  the  work'uses."     (E.  V.  LuCAS.) 

shows  by  what  association  the  meaning  of  ostler.  Old 
Fr.  Jwstelier  (Jiotelier)  has  changed.  A  belf?y  has 
nothing  to  do  with  bells.  Old  Fr.  berfroi  (beffroi)  was 
a  tower  used  in  warfare.  It  comes  from  two  German 
words  represented  by  modern  bergen,  to  hide,  guard, 
and  Friedey  peace,  so  that  it  means  "  guard-peace."  The 
triumph  of  the  form  belfry  is  due  to  association  with 
bell,  but  the  /  is  originally  due  to  dissimilation,  since  we 
find  belfroi  also  in  Old  French.  The  same  dissimilation 
is  seen  in  Fr.  aiiberge,  inn,  Prov.  alberga  (cf  harbinger^ 
p.  83),  and  in  Old  Fr.  escalberc,  escaiiberc,  for  escarberc, 
from  Old  High  Ger.  scar,  a  blade  {cf.  ^low^share),  and 
bergen.  Hence  Eng.  scabbard.  Cf  hauberk,  guard-neck, 
Ger.  Hals}  neck. 

The  buttery  is  not  so  named  from  butter,  but  from 

^  Hence,  or  rather  from  Du.  hals^  the  hawse-\vo\tz,  the  •'  throat"  through 
which  the  cable  runs. 


WRONG  ASSOCL^TION  153 

bottles.  It  is  for  buttery^  as  cJiancery  (see  p.  So)  is  for 
chancelry.  It  is  not,  of  course,  now  limited  to  bottles, 
any  more  than  the  payitry  to  bread  or  the  larder  to 
bacon,  Fr.  lard^  Lat  laridum.  The  spence^  aphetic  for 
dispense,  is  now  known  only  in  Scotland,  but  has  given  us 
the  name  Spencer.  The  still-roo?n  maid  is  not  extinct, 
but  I  doubt  whether  the  distilli7ig  of  strong  waters  is 
now  carried  on  in  the  region  over  which  she  presides. 
A  jour72ey7?ian  has  nothing  to  do  with  journeys  in  the 
modern  sense  of  the  word,  but  v.'orks  a  la  joiirrJe^  by 
the  day.  Cf.  Yx.  joiirnalier^'^  2.  journey  vian  ;  one  that 
workes  by  the  day  "  (Cotgrave),  and  German  Tagelohner, 
literally  "day  wager."  On  the  other  hand,  a  day^ 
wo77ian  {Lov^s  Laboiir^s  Lost^  i.  2)  is  an  explanatory 
pleonasm  (cf  greyhoiind,  p.  124)  for  the  old  word  day, 
servant,  milkmaid,  etc.,  whence  dairy  and  the  common 
surname  Day. 

A  briar  pipe  is  made,  not  from  briar,  but  from  the 
root  of  heather,  Fr.  bruyere,  of  Celtic  origin.  A  catchpole 
did  not  catch  polls,  i.e.  heads,  nor  did  he  catch  people 
with  a  pole,  although  a  very  ingenious  implement, 
exhibited  in  the  Tower  of  London  Armoury,  is  cata- 
logued as  a  catchpole.  It  corresponds  to  a  French 
compound  chasse-poule,  catch-hen,  in  Picard  cache-pole, 
the  official's  chief  duty  being  to  collect  dues,  or,  in 
default,  poultry.  Y ox  pole,  from  Yx.pozile^  ci.  polecat,  also 
an  enemy  of  fowls.  The  coiyipanion-X'a.^d.^x  on  ship- 
board is  a  product  of  folk-et>-molog>\  It  leads  to  the 
kai7ipa7:je,  the  Dutch  for  cabi7i.  Both  words  belong  to 
a  late  Lat.  capa7ina,  hut,  which  has  a  very  numerous 
progeny.  Kajuit,  another  Dutch  word  for  cabin,  earlier 
kajtite,  has  given  us  cuddy. 

A  carousal  is  nov/  regarded  as  a  carause,  but  the  two 
are  quite  separate,  or,  rather,  there  are  two  distinct 
words  caro7isal.     One  of  them  is  from  Fr.  carroitseL  a 


154  HOMONYMS 

word  of  Italian  origin,  meaning  a  pageant  or  carnival 
with  chariot  races  and  tilting.  This  word,  obsolete  in 
this  sense,  is  sometimes  spelt  el  and  accented  on  the 
last  syllable — 

"  Before  the  crystal  palace,  where  he  dwells, 
The  armed  angels  hold  their  carousels!^ 

(Andrew  Marvell,  Lachrymce  Mtisaru?n.) 

Ger.  Karussell  means  a  roundabout  at  a  fair.  Our 
carousal^  if  it  is  the  same  word,  has  been  affected  in 
sound  and  meaning  by  carouse.  This  comes,  probably 
through  French,  from  Ger.  garaiis^  quite  out,  in  the 
phrase  garatis  trinkeUy  i.e.,  to  drink  bumpers — 

"  The  queen  carouses  to  thy  fortune,  Hamlet." 

{Hamlet^  v.  2.) 

Rabelais  says  that  he  is  not  one  of  those  who  would 
compel  their  companions  to  drink  "  caroiis  et  alluz  (all- 
aus)  qui  pis  est"  {Pantagniel^  iii.,  Prologue).  The 
spelling  gar  Otis,  and  even  garatis^  is  found  in  17th- 
century  English. 

It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  say  that  a  viaid-stick, 
Dutch  maal-stoky  paint-stick,  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
verb  to  maid,  formerly  to  mall}  i.e.,  to  hammer.  Nor 
is  the  painter's  lay-figu7'e  connected  with  our  verb  to  lay. 
It  is  also,  like  so  many  art  terms,  of  Dutch  origin,  the 
lay  representing  Du.  lid,  limb,  cognate  with  Ger. 
Gliedr  The  German  for  lay-figure  is  Gliederpuppe, 
joint- doll.  Sewel's  Dutch  Diet.  (1766)  has  lee7nan,  or 
ledeman,  "  a  statue,  with  pliant  limbs  for  the  use  of  a 
painter."  A  footpad  is  not  a  rubber-soled  highwayman, 
but  a  pad,  or  robber,  who  does  his  work  on  foot.  He 
was  also  called  2^padder — 

^  -Hence  the  i^/a//and  Pall-Mall,  where  games  like  croquet  were  played. 
-  The  g-  represents  the  Old   High  German  prefix  gi-,  ge-.     Cf.  Eng, 
luck  and  Ger.  Gluck» 


PAD— SORROW  155 

"While  Hudibras,  with  equal  haste, 
On  both  sides  laid  about  as  fast, 
And  spurr'd,  as  jockies  use,  to  break. 
Or  paddarsy  to  secure,  a  neck." 

(Butler,  Hudibras^  iii.  i.) 

i.e.y  one  who  takes  to  the  "  road,"  from  Du.  pady  path. 
Pady  an  ambling  nag,  a  "  roadster,"  is  the  same  word. 

Pen  comes,  through  Old  French,  from  Lat.  penna^  *'  a 
penne,  quil,  or  fether  "  (Cooper),  while  pencil  is  from 
Old  Fr.  pincel  {piticeaic)^  a  painter's  brush,  from  Lat. 
penicilliiSy  a  little  tail.  The  modern  meaning  of  pencil, 
which  still  meant  painter's  brush  in  the  1 8th  century,  is 
due  to  association  with/^//.  The  fernile  of  a  walking- 
stick  is  a  distinct  word  from  fertile^  an  aid  to  education. 
The  latter  is  Lat.  ferula^  "  an  herbe  like  big  fenell,  and 
maye  be  called  fenell  giant.  Also  a  rodde,  sticke,  or 
paulmer,  wherewith  children  are  striken  and  corrected 
in  schooles ;  a  cane,  a  reede,  a  walking  staffe  "  (Cooper). 
Ferrule  is  a  perversion  of  earlier  virrel^  virrol,  Fr.  virole^ 
"an  iron  ring  put  about  the  end  of  a  staffe,  etc.,  to 
strengthen  it,  and  keep  it  from  riving "  (Cotgrave). 
The  modern  form  is  perhaps  partly  due  to  the  preceding 
word,  the  "  staffe  "  acting  as  point  of  contact. 

The  modern  meaning  of  pester  is  due  to  a  wrong 
association  with  pest.  Its  earlier  meaning  is  to  hamper 
or  entangle — 

"Confined  smd pestered \n  this  pinfold  here." 

{Comusy  1.  7.) 

It  was  formerly  impester^  from  Old  Fr.  cmpcstrer 
(einpetrer),  "  to  pester^  intricate,  intangle,  trouble, 
incumber  "  (Cotgrave),  originally  to  "  hobble  "  a  grazing 
horse  \v\\h.  pasterns,  or  shackles  {s^^  pastern^  p.  69). 

Mosaic  work  is  not  connected  with  Moses,  but  with 
the  muses  and  museum.  Sorrow  and  sorry  are  quite 
unrelated.      Sorrow    is    from    Anglo-Sax.    sorg^    sorJt, 


156  HOMONYIVIS 

cognate  with  Ger.  Sorge,  anxiety.  Sorry ^  Mid.  Eng. 
sori^  is  a  derivative  of  sore^  cognate  with  Ger.  sehr^  very, 
lit.  "  painfully  "  ;  cf.  English  "  sore  afraid,"  or  the  modern 
^'awfully  nice,"  which  is  in  South  Germany  arg  nett^ 
"  vexatiously  nice." 

It  is  probable  that  vagabond^  Lat.  vagabimdiis^  has  no 
etymological  connection  with  vagrant^  which  appears  to 
come  from  Old  Fr.  waucranty  present  participle  of 
ivaucrcr^  a  com.mon  verb  in  the  Picard  dialect,  probably 
related  to  Eng.  walk.  Cotgrave  spells  it  vaucrer^  "to 
range,  roame,  vagary,  wander,  idly  (idle)  it  up  and 
down."  Cotgrave  also  attributes  to  it  the  special 
meaning  of  a  ship  sailing  "  whither  wind  and  tide  will 
carry  it,"  the  precise  sense  in  which  it  is  used  in  the 
13th-century  romance  of  Ancassin  et  Nicolette. 

Other  examples  of  mistaken  associations  are 
sadlion  and  smllery  (p.  39),  and  sentry  and  sentinel 
(p.  96).  Many  years  ago  Punch  had  a  picture  by  Du 
Maurier  called  the  "  Viki7igs  of  Whitby,"  followed  by 
a  companion  picture,  the  Viqueens.  The  word  is  not 
vi-king  but  vik-ingy  the  exact  meaning  of  vik  being 
doubtful. 


CHAPTER   XII 

FAMILY   NAMES 

In  the  study  of  family  names  we  come  across  very 
much  the  same  phenomena  as  in  dealing  with  other 
words.  They  are  subject  to  the  same  phonetic  accidents 
and  to  the  distortions  of  folk-etymology,  being  "  altered 
strangely  to  significative  words  by  the  common  sort, 
who  desire  to  make  all  to  be  significative"  (Camden, 
Reynains  concerning  Britaiyi).  Doublets  and  homonyms 
are  of  frequent  occurrence,  and  the  origin  of  some  names 
is  obscured  by  the  well-meaning  efforts  of  early 
philologists.  It  might  be  expected  that  a  family  name 
would  by  its  very  nature  tend  to  preserve  its  original 
form.  This  is,  however,  not  the  case.  In  old  parish 
registers  one  often  finds  on  one  page  two  or  three 
different  spellings  for  the  same  name,  and  there  are 
said  to  be  a  hundred  and  thirty  variants  of  Mainivari?ig} 
The  telescoped  pronunciation  of  long  names  such  as 
Cholmondeley,  Daventry,  Marjoribanks,  Strachan,  is  a 
familiar  phenomenon,  and  very  often  the  telescoped 
form  persists  separately,  e.g.,  Posnctt  and  Poslett  occur 
often  in  Westmorland  for  Postlethivaite.  Beechmn 
exists  by  the  side  of  BeaucJunnp ;  Saint  Clair  and  Saint 
Maiir   are    usually  reduced  to  Sinclair  and   Seyjuour ; 

^  This  is  probably  the  record  for  a  proper  name,  but  does  not  by  any 
means   equal   that   of  the   word    cvskicm,    of   which    about    four    hundred 
variants  arc  found  in  old  wills  and  inventories. 
157 


158  FAMILY  NAMES 

Boon^  and  Moon  disguise  the  aristocratic  BoJmn  and 
Mohim.  In  a  story  by  Mr  Wells,  Miss  WincJielsecHs 
Heart,  the  name  Snooks  is  gradually  improved  to 
Sevenoaks,  from  which  in  all  probability  it  originally 
came,  via  Senoaks ;  cf.  sen?iight  for  seven-riight^ 
and  such  names  as  Fiveash^  Twelvetrees,  etc.  Folk- 
etymology  converts  Arblaster^  the  cross-bowman, 
into  Alabaster^  Fishwick  into  Physick,  and  Annabel  into 
Hamiibal  and  HoneybalL  Malthus  looks  like  Latin, 
but  is  identical  v/ith  Malthouse,  just  as  Bellows  is  for 
Bellhotise,  Loftus  for  Lofthoiise,  and  Bacclms,  fined  for 
intoxication,  Jan.  5,  191 1,  for  Bakehouse.  Goodeyioiigh 
probably  consists  of  hough  or  ha?{gh,  a  hill,  and  the 
name  Godwin,  while  Toogood,  Thtrgood,  and  Thorotigh- 
good  are  all  corruptions  of  an  old  Saxon  name  Thurgod. 
Godebert  gives  our  Godbe7%  but  we  have  also  the  per- 
versions Godbehere,  Goodbeer,  and  Gotobed.  Some- 
times family  vanity  may  have  brought  about  a  change. 
Beaufoy  is  a  grammatical  monstrosity.  Its  older  form 
is  Beaufou,^r\Q  beech  (see  p.  119),  with  an  ambiguous 
second  syllable.  Other  examples  of  such  corruptions 
v/ill  be  found  in  this  chapter. 

Family  names  fall  into  four  great  classes,  which  are, 
in  descending  order  of  size,  local,  baptismal,  functional, 
and  nicknames.  But  we  have  a  great  many  homonyms, 
namxes  capable  of  two  or  more  explanations.  Thus 
Bell  may  be  for  Fr.  le  bel  or  from  a  shop-sign,  Collet  a 
dim.inutive  of  Nicholas  or  an  aphetic  form  oi- acolyte, 
Dennis  is  usually  for  Dionysius,  but  sometimes  for 
le  Dajtois;  the  Dane ;  Gillott,  and  all  family  names 
beginning  with  Gill-,  may  be  from  Gillian  (see  p.  42), 
or  from  Fr.  Guillatime.  A  famous  member  of  the 
latter  family  was  Gnillotin,  the  humanitarian  doctor 
v/ho  urged  the  abolition  of  clumsy  methods  of  decapita- 

'  Another  origin  of  this  name  is  Fr.  le  hon. 


BAFriSMAL  NAMES  159 

tion.  His  name  is  a  double  diminutive,  like  Fr. 
diablotin^  goblin.  Leggatt  is  a  variant  of  Lidgate^ 
swing  gate,  and  of  Legate.  Lovell  is  an  affectionate 
diminutive  or  is  for  Old  Fr.  louvel,  little  wolf  It  was 
also  in  Mid.  English  a  dog's  name,  hence  the  force  of 
the  rime — 

•'The  Rat  (Ratcliffe),  the  Cat  (Catesby),  and  Lovell,  our  dog, 
Rule  all  England  under  the  Hog."     (1484.) 

It  has  a  doublet  Loiuell.  The  name  Turne)\  well 
known  in  Nottingham,  is  from  the  town  of  Touniay,  or 
is  aphetic  for  attorney.  In  the  following  paragraphs  I 
generally  give  only  one  source  for  each  name,  but  it 
should  be  understood  that  in  many  cases  two  or  more 
are  possible.     The  forms  also  vary. 

Baptismal  names  often  give  surnames  without  any 
suffix.  Sometimes  these  are  slightly  disguised,  e.g., 
Cobbett  (Cuthbert),  Gannett  (Gerard).  Hanuno}id,  Fr. 
Hamon  {Yi?imo),  Hz'bbcrt  {Hubt^t),  Jessop  (Joseph),  Neil 
(Nigel),  distance  (Constance) ;  or  they  preserve  a  name 
no  longer  given  baptismally,  e.g.,  Aldridge  (Alderic), 
Bardell  (Bardolph),  Goodeve  (Godiva),  Goodlakc  (Guth- 
lac),  Goodrich  (Goderic),  Harvey^  (Hervey,  Fr.  Heroe)^ 
Mayhew  (Old  Fr.  Mahieu,  Matthew).  With  the  help  of 
diminutive  suffixes  we  get  Atkin  (Adam),  Bodkin 
(Baldwin),  Larkin  (Lawrence),  Perkin^  Parkin  (Peter), 
Hackett(Y{d.co),  Huggin,  Htitchin,  Heivett.Heivlett^  Howitt 
(Hugh),  Philpot  (Philip),  Tibbet  (Theobald  or  Isabella), 
r///^/' (Matilda),  J F//;//^^  (William),  Wyatt{(:xMy\  Gibbon, 

^  "The  last  two  centuries  have  seen  the  practice  made  popular  of  usino- 
surnames  for  baptismal  names.  Thus  the  late  Bishop  of  Carlisle  was 
Harvey  Goodwin,  although  for  several  centuries  Harvey-  has  been  obsolete 
as  a  personal  name"  (Bardsley).  Camden  already  complains  that  "  sur- 
names of  honourable  and  worshipful  families  are  given  now  to  mean  men's 
children  for  christian  names."  Forty  years  ago  there  was  hardly  a 
more  popular  name  than  Percy,  while  at  the  present  day  the  admonition 
"Be'ave  yerself,  'Oward"  is  familiar  to  the  attentive  ear. 


160  FAMILY  NAMES 

Gilpin  (Gilbert),  etc,  with  numerous  variants  and  further 
derivatives.  The  changes  that  can  be  rung  on  one 
favourite  name  are  bewildering,  ^.g.^  from  Robert  we 
have  Rob^  Dob,  Hob,  and  Bob ;  the  first  three  with  a 
numerous  progeny,  while  Bob,  now  the  favourite 
abbreviation,  came  into  use  too  late  to  found  a  large 
dynasty.  From  Richard  we  have  Richards  and  Richard- 
son, and  from  its  three  abbreviations  Rick,  Dick,  Hick, 
with  their  variants  Rich,  Digg,  Hig,  Hitch,  probably  the 
largest  famil}/  of  surnames  in  the  language.  As  the 
preceding  examples  show,  family  names  are  frequently 
derived  from  the  mother.  Other  examples,  which  are 
not  quite  obvious,  are  Betts  (Beatrice),  Sisson  (Cecilia), 
Moxon  and  Padgett  (Margaret,  Moggy,  Madge,  Padge), 
Parnell  (Petronilla),  Ibbotson  (lb,  Isabella),  Tillotson 
(Matilda).  One  group  of  surnames  is  derived  from 
baptismal  names  given  according  to  the  season  of  the 
Church.  Such  are  Pentecost,  Pascal,  whence  Cornish 
Pascoe,  Noivell,  and  Middlemas,  generally  a  corruption 
of  Michaelmas.  With  these  may  be  grouped  Loveday,  a 
day  appointed  for  reconciliations. 

Surnames  derived  from  place  of  residence  often 
contain  a  preposition,  e.g.,  Atwood,  Underhill,  and  some- 
times the  article  as  v/ell,  e.g.,  Attenborough,  Bythesea, 
In  Surtees,  on  the  Tees,  we  have  a  French  preposition 
and  an  English  river  name.  Sometimes  they  preserve 
a  word  otherwise  obsolete.  Barton,  a  farmyard,  origin- 
ally a  barley-field,  has  given  its  name  to  about  thirty 
places  in  England,  and  thus,  directly  or  indirectly,  to 
many  families.  Bristow  preserves  what  was  once  the 
regular  pronunciation  of  Bristol  The  famous  north 
country  name  Peel  means  castle,  as  still  in  the  Isle  of 
Man.  It  is  Old  Fr.  pel  {pal),  stake,  and  the  name  was 
originally  given  to  a  wooden  hill-fort  or  stockade. 

Many  places  which  have  given  family  names  have 


LOCAL  NAjVIES  161 

themselves  disappeared  from  the  map,  while  others, 
now  of  great  importance,  are  of  too  recent  growth 
to  have  been  used  in  this  way.  Many  of  our  family 
names  are  taken  from  those  of  continental  towns, 
especially  French  and  Flemish.  Camden  says,  "  Neither 
is  there  any  village  in  Normandy  that  gave  not  denomina- 
tion to  some  family  in  England."  Such  are  Bidlen  or 
Boleyri  {Boulogne),  Cullen  {Colog^ii),  Challis  {Calais), 
Challcjt  {Chdlon),  Chaworth  {Cahors),  Bridges^-  {Bruges), 
Drttce  {Dretix),  Gaunt  {Gaud,  Ghent),  Lubbock  {Liibeck), 
L2cck  {Luick,  Liege),  Mann  {le  Mans),  Malins  {Malines, 
Mechlin),  Nugent  {Nogent),  Hazvtrey  {Hauterive),  and 
Dajnpier  {Danipierre).  To  decide  v/hich  is  the  particular 
Hauterive  or  Danipierre  in  question  is  the  work  of  the 
genealogist.  Danipierre  {Dominus  Pctrus)  means  Saint 
Peter.  In  some  cases  these  names  have  been  simplified, 
e.g.,  Camden  notes  that  Conyers,  from  Coigniers,  lit. 
quince-trees,  becomes  Quince. 

French  provinces  have  given  us  Burgoyne,  Champain, 
Gascoyneox  Gaskin,2A\A  Mayne,3.nd  adjectives  formed  from 
names  of  countries,  provinces  and  towns  survive  in  All- 
man  {Allemand),  Brabazo7i{le  Braba?ico7i,  the  Brabanter), 
Brett  {le  Bret  or  le  Breton "),  Chanipneys  {le  Chanipenois), 
with  which  we  may  compare  Cornzi'allis,  from  the  Old 
French  adjective  cornwaleis,  man  of  Cornwall,  Pickard 
{le  Picard),  Poidevin  {le  Poitevin),  Mansell,  Old  Fr. 
Mancel  {le  Manceau),  inhabitant  of  Maine  or  le  Mans, 
Hanway  and  Hannay  {le  Hannuyer,  the  Hainaulter). 
To  these  may  be  added  Pollock,  the  Pole,  or  Polack — 

"Why  then  the  Polack  never  will  defend  it.'' 
.;   '  {Hamlet,  iv.  4.) 

Lori?tg  {le  Lorrain),  assimilated   to   Fleming,  Janaivay, 

^  Of  course  also  of  English  origin. 
^  Hence  also  the  name  Britton. 


162  FAMILY  NAMES 

the  Genoese,  and  Hansard^  a  member  of  the  Hanse 
confederation.  Morris  means  sometimes  Moorish 
(see  p.  45),  and  Norris,  besides  having  the  meaning 
seen  in  its  contracted  form  Ntirse,  Fr.  nourrice^  may 
stand  for  le  Noreis^  the  Northener.  We  still  have  a 
Ncrroy  king-at-arms,  who  holds  office  north  of  the 
Trent, 

In  some  cases  the  territorial  de  remains,  e.g., 
Dolnicm  is  sometimes  the  same  as  Dalinai?i,  dAllejuagnCy 
Daubency  \?>  dAuhigni^  Danvers  is  dAnvers  (Antwerp), 
Devereux  is  dEvreiix^  a  town  which  takes  its  name 
from  the  Eboraci^  and  Disitey  is  d'Isigny.  Diirj-afit 
is  the  common  French  name  Dm'mid.  With  these 
may  be  mentioned  Dawnay^  from  Old  Fr.  aiiiiai} 
a  grove  of  alders.  The  last  governor  of  the  Bastille 
was  the  Marquis  de  Launay  (I'aunai).  There  is  a  large 
group  of  such  words  in  French,  coming  from  Latin 
collectives  in  -eticm ;  dAubray  is  from  Lat.  arbo- 
return^  and  has  given  also  the  dissimilated  form 
Darblay,  famous  in  English  literature.  Other  examples 
are  Chesney,  Chaney^  etc,  the  oak-grove,^  Poj7ie7vy,  the 
apple  garden. 

Names  of  French  origin  are  particularly  subject  to 
corruption  and  folk-etymology.  We  have  the  classic 
example  of  Tess  Durbeyfield?  Camden,  in  his  Remains 
concerning  Britain y^w&s^  among  other  curious  instances, 
Trotiblefield  for  Tw'berville.  Greenfield  is  usually  literal 
(cf  Whitfield,  V/hittaker,  Greenacre,  etc.),  but  occasionally 
for    Grenville.      Summerfield  is    for    Soniei^ville.      The 

^  Old  Fr.  vernaiy  whence  our  Vemey,  Vaniey,  has  the  same  meaning ; 
cf.  Duver}iey,  the  name  of  a  famous  dancer.  Verne,  alder,  is  of  Celtic 
origin. 

'■^  Cf.  Chemvix,  old  oak,  a  name  introduced  by  the  Huguenots. 

^  Other  examples  quoted  by  Mr  Hardy  are  Priddle,  from  Paridelle,  and 
Dehhyhouse — "The  Debbyhouses  who  now  be  carters  were  once  the  de  Bayeux 
family"  {Tess  of  the  d'  Urbervilles,  v.  35). 


OCCUPATIVE  NAMES  163 

notorious  Dayigerfield  was  of  Norman  ancestry,  from 
Angerville.  Midlijis  looks  a  very  English  name,  but  it 
is  from  Fr.  7noiili7i,  mill,  as  Musters  is  from  Old  Fr. 
moustier,  monastery.  PJiilliniore  is  a  corruption  of 
Finnemore^  Yx.fin  amour. 

When  we  come  to  names  which  indicate  office  or 
trade,  we  have  to  distinguish  between  those  that  are 
practically  nicknames,  such  as  King^  Diike^  Bishops 
CcEsar^  (Julius  C?esar  was  a  fam.ous  cricketer  of  the  old 
school),  and  those  that  are  to  be  taken  literally.  Many 
callings  now  obsolete  have  left  traces  in  our  surnames. 
The  very  common  name  Chapma7i  reminds  us  that  this 
was  once  the  general  term  for  a  dealer  (see  p.  62),  one 
who  spends  his  time  in  chaffering  or  "  chopping  and 
changing."  The  grocer^  or  engrosser^  i.e.^  the  man  who 
bought  wholesale,  Fr.  en  g?'os,-  came  too  late  to  supplant 
the  family  name  Spicer:  Bailey^  Old  Fr.  bailifibailli)^ 
represents  all  sorts  of  officials  from  a  Scotch  magistrate 
to  a  man  in  possession.  Bayliss  seems  to  be  formed 
from  it  like  Williams  from  William.  Chancer,  Old  Fr. 
chancier ,  now  replaced  by  cJiaiLssetier, "  a  hosier,  or  hose- 
maker  "  (Cotgrave),  is  probably  obsolete  as  an  English 
surname.  Mr  Honer^s  ancestors  made  helmets,  Fr. 
heaujne.  Jenner  is  for  etigenonr,  engineer  (see  gin^  p.  60). 
In  Ferrier  traditional  spelling  seems  to  have  triumphed 
over  popular  pronunciation  {farrier),  but  the  latter 
appears  in  Farrar.  Chaucer's  so7no?ionr  survives  as 
Su7nner.     Ark  was  once  a  general  name  for  a  bin,  hence 

*  These  names  are  supposed  to  have  been  generally  conferred  in  conse- 
quence of  characters  represented  in  public  performances  and  processions.  In 
some  cases  they  imply  that  the  bearer  was  in  the  employment  of  the  dignitary. 
We  find  them  in  other  languages,  e.g.^  Fr.  Leroy\  Leduc,  Leveque  ;  Ger.  Konig, 
Herzog,  Bischof.     Leveque  has  given  Eng.  Levick^  Vick^  and  (Trotty)  Veck. 

^  Gross^  twelve  dozen,  seems  to  be  of  Germanic  origin,  the  duodecimal 
hundred,  Ger.  Grosshiuidert,  being  Norse  or  Gothic  But  Ger.  Crosshundirt 
means  120  only. 


164  FAMILY  NAMES 

the  name  Arkwrigkt.  Nottingham  still  has  a  Fletcher 
Gate,  Lister  Gate,  and  Pilcher  Gate.  It  is  not  surprising 
that  the  trade  of  th^  fletcher,  Old  Yx.fleschier  {Flechier), 
arrow-maker,  should  be  obsolete.  Lister,  earlier  litteste?^ 
gave  way  to  dighester^  whence  the  name  Dexter^  well 
kno\vn  in  Nottingham,  and  this  is  now  replaced  by  dyer. 
A  Pilcher  made  pilches^  or  mantles ;  cf.  the  cognate 
Fr,  name  Pelissier,  a  maker  oi  pelisses}  Kiddier  was 
once  equivalent  to  pedlar,  from,  kid,  a  basket.  Sailors 
still  speali  of  the  bread-/^/^.  For  the  name  Wait,  see 
p.  70.  The  ancestor  of  the  Poyser  family  made  scales 
(^poises),  or  was  in  charge  of  a  public  balance.  Faulkner, 
falconer,  Foster,  Forster,  forester,  and  Warner,  warrener, 
go  together.  With  the  contraction  of  Warner  we  may 
compare  Marrier,  mariner.  Crozvther  means  fiddler. 
The  obsolete  crowd,  a  fiddle,  is  of  Celtic  origin.  It  is  a 
doublet  of  rote,  the  name  of  the  instrument  played  by  the 
medieval  minstrels.     Both  words  are  used  by  Spenser. 

Finder,  the  man  in  charge  of  the  pound  or  pinfold, 
was  the  name  of  a  famous  wicket-keeper  of  thirty  years 
ago.  The  still  more  famous  cricketing  name  of 
Triirnper  means  one  who  blows  the  trump.  Cf  Horner 
and  Corner,  which  have,  however,  alternative  origins,  a 
m.aker  of  horn  cups  and  a  coro?ier  respectively.  A  dealer 
in  shalloo7i  (see  p.  43)  was  a  Chaloner  ox  Chaw?ier  Par- 
7/ii?iter,  a  tailor,  is  as  obsolete  as  its  Old  French  original 
parmentier,  a  maker  oi  parements,  deckings,  ixowi  parer, 
Lat.  parare,  to  prepare.  A  member  of  the  Parmentier 
family  introduced  the  cultivation  of  the  potato  into 
France  just  before  the  Revolution,  hence  potage 
Parvie7itier,  potato  soup.  The  white  tawer  still  plies  his 
trade,  but  is  hardly  recognisable  in  Whittier.  Massinger 
is  a  corruption  of  7nessenger.     The   Todhtmter,  or  fox- 

*  Surplice^  Old  Fr.  surpelis,  is  a   compound  of  the   same  word.     The 
original  meaning  is  fur  cloak. 


OCCUPATIVE  NAZVIES  165 

hunter,  used  to  get  twelve  pence  per  fox-head  from  the 
parish  warden.  Coltinan  is  simple,  but  Rzi'ncinian^  the 
man  in  charge  of  the  rimcies  or  roimcies^  is  less  obvious. 
Rouncy,  a  nag,  is  a  common  word  in  Mid.  English. 
It  comes  from  Old  Fr.  roncin{7'cussin),  and  is  probably  a 
derivative  of  Ger.  Ross^  horse.  The  Spanish  form  is 
rocin/^ 3.  horse  or  jade"  (Minsheu,  1623),  whence  Don 
Quixote's  charger  Rocm-ajitc^  "  a  jade   formerly." 

A  park  keeper  is  no  longer  called  a  Parker,  nor  a 
maker  of  palings  and  palissades  a  Palliser,  An  English 
sea-king  has  immortalised  the  trade  of  the  FrGbisher, 
or  furbisher,  and  a  famous  bishop  bore  the  appropriate 
name  of  Latimer^  for  Latijier.  With  this  we  may 
compare  Loriuier,  for  loriner,  harness-maker,  a  derivative, 
through  Old  French,  of  Lat.  lorum,  "  a  thong  of  leather  ; 
a  coller  or  other  thing,  wherewith  beastes  are  bounden 
or  tyed  ;  the  reyne  of  a  brydle  "  (Cooper).  The  Loriners 
still  figure  among  the  London  City  Livery  Companies, 
as  do  also  the  Bowyers^  Broderers^  Fletchers  (see  p.  164), 
Homers  (see  p.  164),  PatteyimakerSy  Poidters  and 
Upholders  (see  p.  58).  Scriven,  Old  Fr.  escrivain 
{ecrivain),  is  now  usually  extended  to  Scrivener.  For 
Cator  s^^  p.  58.  In  some  of  the  above  cases  the  name 
may  have  descended  from  a  female,  as  we  have  not 
usually  a  separate  word  for  women  carrying  on  trades 
generally  practised  by  men.  I  n  French  there  is  a  feminine 
forrri  for  nearly  every  occupation,  hence  such  names  as 
Laboiichere,  the  lady  butcher,  or  the  butcher's  wife. 

The  meaning  of  occupative  names  is  not  always  on 
the  surface.  It  would,  for  instance,  be  rash  to  form 
hasty  conclusions  as  to  the  pursuits  of  Richard  Kisser 
whose  name  occurs  in  medieval  London  records.  He 
probably  made  ciiisses}  thigh  armour,  Fr.  cuisse,  thi"-h 
Lat.  coxa.      A  Barker  prepared   bark  for  tanning  pur- 

^  See  quotation  from  Henry  IV.  (p.  145). 

L   2 


166  FAMILY  NAMES 

poses.  Booker  is  a  doublet  of  Butcher.  A  Cleaver  was, 
in  most  cases,  a  mace-bearer,  Old  Fr.  clavier  {Clavier  is  a 
common-family  name  in  France)  from  Lat.  clava^-^,  club. 
He  may,  however,  have  sometimes  been  a  porter,  as 
Old  Fr.  clavier  also  means  key-bearer,  Lat.  clavis,  a  key. 
A  Croker^  or  Crocker^  sold  crocks,  i.e..,  pottery.  A  Lander, 
or  Launder,  was  a  washer-man,  Fr.  lavandier.  A 
Sloper  made  "  slops,"  2>.,  loose  upper  garments,  overalls. 
A  Reeder  or  Reorder  thatched  with  reeds.  A  Walker 
walked,  but  within  a  circumscribed  space.  He  was  also 
called  a  Fuller,  Yx.  fouler,  to  trample,  or  a  Tzicker,  Old 
Fr.  touquer  {toqzier),  to  beat,  the  Picard  form  of  toucher. 
The  fuller  is  still  called  Walker  in  Germany.  Kemp  is 
an  Old  English  word  for  warrior,  champion.  It 
represents,  like  Ger.  kdmpfen,  to  fight,  a  very  early  loan 
from  Lat.  campus,  in  the  sense  of  battle-field.  Banister 
is  a  corruption  of  balestier,  a  cross-bow  man ;  cf. 
banister  for  baluster  (p.  55). 

Som.e  of  the  occupative  names  in  -ward  and  -Jierd 
are  rather  deceptive.  Hayward  means  hedge  ^  guard. 
Howard  is  a  blend  of  Hayivard  and  Hereward.  The 
first  source  accounts  for  the  frequent  occurrence  of  this 
noble  name.  For  the  social  elevation  of  the  sty-ward, 
see  p.  Z'^.  Durward  is  door-ward.  The  simple  Ward, 
replaced  in  its  general  sense  by  warden,  warder,  etc.,  is 
one  of  our  commonest  surnames.  Similarly  Herd, 
replaced  by  Jierdsinan,  is  borne  as  a  surname  by  one 
who,  if  he  attains  not  to  the  first  three,  is  usually  held 
more  honourable  than  the  thirty.  Hogarth  is  for 
Hoggart,  hog-herd  ;  Seward  is  sometimes  for  sow-herd  ; 
Calvert  represents  calf-herd,  and  Stoddart  stot--herd,  i.e., 

'  The  obsolete  hay,  hedge,  is  also  a  common  surname,  Hay,  Haig, 
Haigh,  etc. 

-  "  '  Shentlernans  ! '  cried  Andie,  *  Shentlemans,  ye  hielant  stot !  If  God 
would  give  ye  the  grace  to  see  yersel'  the  way  that  ithers  see  ye,  ye  would 
throw  your  denner  up'"  (jCalrioyia,  Ch.  XV.). 


NICKNAMES  167 

bullock-herd.  La7nbert  is  in  some  cases  lamb-herd,  and 
Nutter  is  in  all  probability  a  perversion  of  neat-herd, 
through  the  North  Country  and  Scot.  7iowt-Jierd.  It  is 
a  common  surname  in  Lancashire,  and  Alice  Nutter 
was  one  of  the  Lancashire  Witches. 

In  a  sense  all  personal  names  are  nicknames,  since 
they  all  give  that  additional  information  which  enables 
us  to  distinguish  one  person  from  another.  The 
practice  of  giving  nicknames  suggested  by  appearance, 
physique,  or  habits  is  common  to  the  European 
languages ;  but,  on  the  whole,  our  nicknames  compare 
very  unfavourably  with  those  of  savage  nations.  We 
cannot  imagine  an  English  swaii.  calling  his  lady-love 
"Laughing  Water."  From  Roman  times  onward, 
European  nicknames  are  in  their  general  character 
obvious  and  prosaic,  and  very  many  of  them  are 
the  reverse  of  complimentary.  The  most  objection- 
able have  either  disappeared,^  or  the  original  mean- 
ing has  become  so  obscured  as  to  cease  to  give 
offence  to  the  possessor.  When  a  man  had  any 
choice  in  the  matter,  he  naturally  preferred  not 
to  perpetuate  a  grotesque  name  conferred  on  some 
ancestor.  Medieval  names  were  conferred  on  the 
individual,  and  did  not  become  definitely  hereditary 
till  the  Reformation.  In  later  times  names  could 
only  be  changed  by  form  of  law.  It  is  thus  that 
Bugg  became  Norfolk  Howard^  a  considerable  trans- 
formation inspired  by  a  natural  instinct  to  "  avoid 
the  opinion  of  baseness,"  as  Camden  puts  it.  We 
no   longer   connect   Gosse  with  goose^  nor  PemiefatJier 

^  The  following  occur  in  the  index  to  Bardsley's  English  Surnames: — 
Blackinthemouth,  Blubber,  Calvesmawe,  Cleanhog,  Crookbone,  Damned- 
Barebones,  Drunkard,  Felon,  Greenhorn,  Halfpenny,  Hatechrist,  Hogsflesh, 
Killhog,  Leper,  Mad,  Measle,  Milksop,  Outlaw,  Peckcheese,  Peppercorn, 
Poorfish,  Pudding,  Ragman,  Scorchbeef,  Sourale,  Sparewater,  Sweatinbed, 
Twopenny,  Widehose. 


168  FAMILY  NAMES 

with  a  miser."^  In  Purcell\Ye.  lose  Yx.  poiircemi^  Old  Fr. 
pourcel^  little  pig,  Fitch  no  longer  means  a  pole-cat,  nor 
Brock  a  badger.  On  the  other  hand,  we  generally 
regard  Gosling  as  a  nickname,  while  it  is  more  often  a 
variant  oi  Jocely7i. 

Names  descriptive  of  appearance  or  habits  often 
correspond  pretty  closely  with  those  that  are  found  in 
French.  In  some  cases  they  are  probably  mere  trans- 
lations. Examples  are :  Merryweather  {Bonte7nps\ 
Drinkw Liter  {B  oilcan  ^),  A  rjustrong  {Fortinbras)^  Lily  white 
{Blanchefleiir\  Among  colour  names  we  have  Blacky 
B7VW71,  White,  and  Grey,  but  seem  to  miss  red.  The 
explanation  is  that  for  this  colour  we  have  adopted 
the  Northern  form  JReid  {Read,  Reed),  or  such  French 
names  as  Rttdge  (rozige),  Rouse  {tojlx),  Rzissell  {Roiissemi). 
With  the  last  of  these,  Old.  Fr.  ronssel,  cf  Brunei  and 
Jllorel.  Fr.  blond  has  given  Blount,  Blunt,  and  the 
diminutive  Blundell,  which  exist  by  the  side  of  the  fine 
old  English  name  Fairfax,  from  Mid.  Eng.  fax,  hair. 
vSeveral  other  French  adjectives  have  given  us  surnames, 
e.g..  Boon  {bon),  Bomier  {debonnaire).  Grant  {grand), 
Curtis  {courtois),  Power  {pauvre),  etc.  Payn  is  the 
French  3.d]^cX.i\Q  paten,  pagan,  properly  a  dweller  in  the 
country.     For  the  meaning,  cf.  heathen. 

But  many  apparent  nicknames  are  products  of  folk- 
etymology.  Cozvard  is  for  cozvherd,  Salino?z  for  Salomon, 
Bone  for  Boon  (v.s.),  Dedman  is  a  corruption  of  Deben- 
Jiam.  Play  fair  means  play-fellow,  from  an  old  word 
connected  with  the  verb  \.ofare,  to  journey.  Patch  may 
sometimes  have  meant  a  jester,  from  his  parti-coloured 
garments,  but  is  more  often  a  variant  of  Pash,  Pask,  a 
baptismal  name  given  to  children  christened  at  Easter, 

1  Pinse-maiHe  (J>mce-7naille),  "  a  pinch  peny,  scrape-good,  nigard,  miser, 
penie-faiher"  (Cotgrave). 

-  Cf.  also  Ital.  Bevilacqua. 


CORRUPTED  NAVIES  169 

Old  Fr.  Pasqzie  {Paque).  Easter  eggs  are  still  called 
pask,  pace,  or  paste  eggs  in  the  north  of  England. 
Blood  is  a  Welsh  name,  son  of  Liid ;  cf.  Bevayi,  Bozve?i, 
etc.  Coffin  is  Fr.  Chauvin,  a  derivative  of  Lat.  calvtis^ 
bald.  It  has  a  variant  Caffyri,  the  name  of  a  famous 
cricketer.  Dance^  for  Dans,  is  related  to  Daniel  as  Wills 
is  to  William.  In  the  same  way  Pearce  comes  from 
Peter  or  Pierre.  The  older  form  of  the  name  Pearce 
was  borne  by  the  most  famous  of  ploughmen,  as  it  still 
is  by  the  most  famous  of  soapmakers.  Names  such 
as  Bull,  Peacock,  Greenman,  are  often  from  shop  or 
tavern  signs.  It  is  noteworthy  that,  as  a  surname,  we 
usually  find  the  old  form  Pocock.  The  Green  Man,  still 
a  common  tavern  sign,  represented  a  kind  of  savage  ; 
cf.  the  Ger.  zicni  ivilde?i  Ma7in. 

In  these  remarks  on  surnames  I  have  only  tried  to 
show  in  general  terms  how  they  come  into  existence, 
"hoping  to  incur  no  offence  herein  vdth  any  person, 
when  I  protest  in  all  sincerity,  that  I  purpose  nothing 
less  than  to  wrong  any  whosoever  "  (Camden).  Many 
names  are  susceptible  of  alternative  explanations, 
and  it  requires  a  genealogist,  and  generally  some 
imagination,  to  decide  to  which  particular  source  a 
given  family  can  be  traced.  The  tvro  arguments  some- 
times dra%\Ti  from  armorial  bearings  and  medieval  Latin 
forms  are  vrorthless.  Names  existed  before  escutcheons 
and  devices,  and  these  are  often  mere  puns,  e.g.,  the 
Onslow  family,  of  local  origin,  has  adopted  the  excellent 
motto  festina  lente,  hurry  slowly.  The  famous  name 
Sacheverell  is  latinised  as  De  Saltu  CapellcE,  of  the  kid's 
leap.  This  agrees  with  the  oldest  form  Sau-chevo'ell, 
which  might  conceivably  stand  for  modern  Fr.  sani  du 
chevreaii,  but  evidence  is  lacking.  The  fact  that  N'apier 
of  Merchiston  had  for  his  device  71' a  pier,  no  equal,  does 
not  make  it  any  the  less  true  that  his  ancestors  were, 


170  FAMILY  NAMES 

as  the  child  said  of  Perkin  Warbeck's  parents,-"  really, 
respectable  people"  (see  p.  52).  Dr  Brewer,  in  his 
Dictionary  of  Phrase  and  Fable^  says  of  his  own  name, 
"This  name,  which  exists  in  France  as  Bruhiere  and 
Brugiere,  is  not  derived  from  the  Saxon  brizvan  (to 
brew),  but  the  French  briiyh'e  (heath),  and  is  about 
tantamount  to  the  German  Plantagenel  (broom  plant)." 
A  "  German "  Plantagenet  should  overawe  even  a 
Norfolk  Hov/ard.  A  more  interesting  identification, 
and  a  true  one,  is  that  of  the  name  of  the  great  engineer 
Telfo7'd^  a  corruption  of  Telfer,  with  Taillefer,  the  "  iron 
cleaver." 

A  curious  feature  in  nomenclature  is  the  local 
character  of  some  nicknames.  A  striking  instance  of 
this  is  the  Notts  name  Daft}  "  A  Daft  might  have 
played  in  the  Notts  County  Eleven  in  1273  as  well  as 
in  1886"  (Bardsley).  The  only  occurrence  of  the  name 
in  the  Hundred  Rolls  for  the  year  1273  is  in  the  county 
of  Notts. 

^  This  word  has  degenerated.     It  is  a  doublet  of  (^e/l. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

ETYMOLOGICAL  FACT   AND   FICTION 

Romance  and  Germanic  etymology  dates  from  the 
middle  of  the  19th  century,  and  is  associated  especially 
with  the  names  of  two  great  Germans,  Friedrich  Diez, 
who  published  his  WbrterbucJi  der  rornanischen  Spraclien 
in  1853,  and  Jakob  Grimm,  whose  DeiUsches  Wdrterbuch 
dates  from  1852.  These  two  men  applied  in  their 
respective  fields  of  investigation  the  principles  of 
comparative  philology,  and  reduced  to  a  science  what 
had  previously  been  an  amusement  for  the  learned  or 
the  ignorant. 

Men  have  always  been  fascinated  by  word  lore. 
The  Greeks  and  Romans  played  with  etymology  in  a 
somewhat  metaphysical  fashion,  a  famous  example  of 
which  is  the  derivation  of  Incus  a  non  hicendo.  Medieval 
writers  delight  in  giving  amazing  information  as  to  the 
origin  of  the  words  they  use.  Their  method,  which  may 
be  called  learned  folk-etymology,  consists  in  attempting 
to  resolve  an  unfamiliar  word  into  elements  which  give 
a  possible  interpretation  of  its  meaning.  Thus  Philippe 
de  Thaiin,  who  wrote  a  kind  of  verse  encyclopedia  at 
the  beginning  of  the  12th  century,  derives  the  French 
names  of  the  days  of  the  week  as  follows  :  huidi^  day  of 
light  (Jumiere),  inardz\  day  of  toil  or  martyrdom 
{inartyre)^  7nercredi^  day  of  vci3.xkQt  {jnarch/)^  jeudi^  day 

171 


172     ETYMOLOGICAL  FACT  AND  FICTION 

of  joy  {joie),  vendredi^  day  of  truth  (verite)^  samedi,  day 
of  sowing  {semence).  Here  we  perhaps  have,  not  so 
much  conriplete  ignorance,  as  the  desire  to  be  edifying, 
which  is  characteristic  of  the  medieval  etymologists. 

Playful  or  punning  etymology  also  appears  very 
early.  Wace,  whose  Roman  de  Ron  dates  from  about 
the  middle  of  the  1 2th  century,  gives  the  correct  origin 
of  the  word  Norman — 

"  Justez  {piU)  ensemble  north  et  man 
Et  ensemble  dites  northman." 

But  he  also  records  the  libellous  theory  that  Normendie 
comes  from  north  niendie  (begs).  We  cannot  always 
say  whether  an  early  etymology  is  serious  or  not,  but 
many  theories  which  were  undoubtedly  meant  for  jokes 
have  been  quite  innocently  accepted  by  comparatively 
modern  writers.^ 

The  philologists  of  the  Renaissance  period  were 
often  very  learned  men,  but  they  had  no  knowledge  of 
the  phonetic  laws  by  which  sound  change  is  governed. 
Nor  were  they  aware  of  the  existence  of  Vulgar  Latin, 
which  is,  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  classical  Latin, 
the  parent  of  the  Romance  languages.  Sometimes  a 
philologist  had  a  pet  theory  which  the  facts  were  made 
to  fit.     Hellenists  like  Henri  Estienne  believed  in  the 

^  The  following  "etymologies"  occur,  in  the  same  list  with  a  number 
which  are  quite  correct,  in  a  16th-century  French  author,  Tabourot  des 
Accords : — 

Bonnety  de  bon  et  net^  pource  que  Tornement  de  la  teste  doit  estre  tel. 

Chapeaii,  quasi,  eschappt  eau  ;  aussi  anciennement  ne  le  souloit  on  porter 
que  par  les  champs  en  temps  de  pluye. 

Chemise^  quasi,  sur  chair  tnise.  » 

Velours,  quasi,  vehi  ours,  . 

Galani,  quasi,  gay  allant. 

MenesLritr,  quasi,  meine  estrier  des  espousees. 

Orgueily  quasi,  orde  gueide. 

Noise^  vient  de  nois  Qioix"),  qui  font  noise  et  bruit  portees  ensemble. 

Farkment,  pource  qu'on  y parle  et  ment ! 


EARLY  ETYMOLOGISTS  173 

Greek  origin  of  the  French  language,  and  derived 
niaison  from  the  Greek  accusative  oikov  {oLK09y  a  house) 
by  the  simple  method  of  prefixing  an  7n.  At  other 
periods  there  have  been  Celtomaniacs,  i.e.,  scholars  who 
insisted  on  the  Celtic  origin  of  French. 

The  first  English  etymological  dictionary  which  aims 
at  something  like  completeness  is  the  Gidde  i?ito  the 
Tongues  of  John  Minsheu,  published  in  1617.  This 
attempts  to  deal  not  only  with  English,  but  Vv'ith  ten 
other  languages.  It  contains  a  great  deal  of  learning, 
much  valuable  information  for  the  student  of  Tudor 
literature,  and  some  amazing  etymologies.  "To 
purloine}  or  get  privily  away,"  is,  says  Minsheu,  "a 
metaphor  from  those  that  picke  the  fat  of  the  loznes." 
Par7naceti  {\  Henry  IV.,  i.  3),  a  corruption  of  spermaceti, 
he  derives  from  Parma,  which  has  given  its  name  to 
par??iesan  "cheese.  On  the  word  cockney'^  he  waxes 
anecdotic,  always  a  fatal  thing  in  an  etymologist. 
"  Cockney^  or  cockny,  applied  only  to  one  borne  within 
the  sound  of  Bow-bell,  that  is,  within  the  City  of 
London,  which  tearme  came  first  out  of  this  tale : 
That  a  cittizens  sonne  riding  v.-ith  his  father  out 
of  London  into  the  country,  and  being  a  novice  and 
meerely  ignorant  how  corne  or  cattell  increased,  asked, 
when  .he  heard  a  horse  neigh,  v/hat  the  horse  did; 
his  father  answered,  the  horse  doth  neigJi ;  riding 
farther  he  heard  a  cocke  crow,  and  said,  doth  the  cocke 
neigh  too  ?  " 

Moliere  often  makes  fun  of  the  et3-mologists  of  his 
time  and  has  rather  unfairly  caricatured,  as  Vadius  in 

*  Old  Yx.  pourloig7iier,  to  remove  ;  cf.  el:^.gr.eT. 

-  A  very  difficult  word.  Before  it  vras  applied  to  a  Londoner  it  meant  a 
milksop.  It  is  thus  used  by  Chaucer.  Cooper  renders  delicias facer e^  "  to 
play  the  wanton,  to  dally,  to  play  the  cockney."  In  this  sense  it  co:responds 
to  Fr.  acoquine^  made  into  a  cogidn^  "made  tame,  inward,  familiar  •  also 
growne  as  lazy,  sloathful,  idle,  as  a  beggar  "  (Cotgrave). 


174     ETYMOLOGICAL  FACT  AND  FICTION 

Les  Fenmies  savanies,  the  great  scholar  Gilles  Menage, 
whose  Etymological  Dictionary,  published  in  1650,  was 
long  a  standard  work.  Moliere's  mockery  and  the 
fantastic  nature  of  some  of  Menage's  etymologies  have 
combined  to  make  him  a  butt  for  the  ignorant,  but 
it  may  be  doubted  whether  any  modern  scholar, 
using  the  same  im.plements,  could  have  done  better 
work.  For  Manage  the  one  source  of  the  Romance 
languages  was  classical  Latin,  and  every  word  had 
to  be  traced  to  a  Latin  word  of  suitable  form  or 
sense.  Thus  Fr.  haricot^  is  connected  by  him  with  Lat 
faba,  a  bean,  via  the  conjectural  "  forms "  fabarius^ 
fabaricuSy  fabaricotiis,  faricotus,  JiaricotiiSy  a  method  to 
which  no  problem  .  is  insoluble.^  He  suggests  that 
Fr.  geiriclre,  or  giyidref  baker's  man,  comes  from  Lat. 
genery  son-in-law,  because  the  baker's  man  always 
marries  the  baker's  daughter  ;  but  this  practice,  common 
though  it  may  be,  is  not  of  sufficiently  unfailing 
regularity  to  constitute  a  philological  law.  Perhaps 
his  greatest  achievement  was  the  derivation  of  Span. 
alfana}"  a  mare,  from.  Lat.  equiiSy  a  horse,  which  inspired 
a  well-known  epigram — 

"  Alfana  vient  ^equus,  sans  doute, 
Mais  il  faut  avouer  aussi 
Qu'en  venant  de  Ik  jusqu'ici 
II  a  bien  change  sur  la  route." 

These  examples  show  that  respect  for  Menage  need 
not  prevent  his  work  from  being  a  source  of  innocent 
merriment.     But   the    above    epigram    loses   some    of 

^  Origin  quite  unknown. 

-  "  Sache  que  le  mot  galant  homme  vient  d* elegant ;  prenant  le  g  et  I'c  de 
la  derni^re  syllabe,  cela  fait  ga,  et  puis  prenant  /,  ajoutant  un  a  et  les  deux 
dernieres  lettres,  cela  fait  galant,  et  puis  ajoutant  homme^  cela  fait  galant 
homme.*'     QAoWhxe,  Jalousie  dii  Barloiiilli^  sc^ne  2.) 

'  Old  Fr.  joinclre,  Lat,  iiinior. 

■*  Of  Arabic  origin. 


ANECDOTIC  ET^^IOLOGY  175 

its  point  for  modern  philologists  to  whom  equations 
that  look  equally  fantastic,  e.g.  Eng.  wlieel  and  Gk. 
/cJ/cXo?,^  are  matters  of  elementary  knowledge.  On 
the  other  hand,  a  close  resemblance  between  words 
of  languages  that  are  not  nearly  related  is  proof 
presumptive,  and  almost  positive,  that  the  words 
are  quite  unconnected.  The  resemblance  between 
English  and  German  words  is,  the  resemblance  of 
first  cousins,  but  the  resemblance  of  Eng.  ;////,  Ger. 
Nuss  to  Lat.  mix  is  accidental  Even  in  the  case 
of  languages  that  are  near  akin,  it  is  not  safe  to 
jump  to  conclusions.  The  Greek  cousin  of  Lat.  dezcs 
is  not  0eo9,  God,  but  ZeJ?,  Jupiter. 

An  etymology  that  has  anything  to  do  with  a  person 
or  an  anecdote  is  to  be  regarded  vrith  suspicion.  For 
both  we  want  contemporary  evidence,  and,  in  the  case 
of  an  anecdote,  we  never,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge, 
get  it.  In  Chapter  III,  are  a  number  of  instances  of 
words  formed  according  to  authentic  evidence  from 
names  of  persons.  But  the  old-fashioned  etymologist 
will  not  be  denied  his  little  stor}^  Thus,  in  explanation 
o{  spencer  {y.  36),  I  find  in  an  Etymological  Compenduan 
of  1853  that  "His  Lordship,  v/hen  Lord-lieutenant  of 
Ireland,  being  out  a-hunting,  had,  in  the  act  of  leaping 
a  fence,  the  misfortune  to  have  one  of  the  skirts  of  his 
coat  torn  off;  upon  which  his  lordship  tore  off  the 
other,  observing,  that  to  have  but  one  left  was  like  a 
pig  with  one  ear!  Some  inventive  genius  took  the 
hint,  and  having  made  some  of  these  half-coats,  out  of 
compliment  to  his  lordship,  gave  them  the  significant 
cognomen  of  Spencer ! "     This  is  what  Pooh-Bah  calls 

^  That  is,  they  are  both  descended  froni  the  same  Indo-Germanic 
original.  Voltaire  was  thus,  superficially,  right  when  he  described 
etymology  as  a  science  in  which  the  vowels  da  not  count  at  all  and  the 
consonants  very  little. 


176     ETYIVIOLOGICAL  FACT  AND  FICTION 

"  corroborative  detail  intended  to  give  artistic  veri- 
similitude to  a  bald  and  unconvincing  narrative." 
From  the  same  authority  we  learn  that  Jmrly-burly^ 
"  is  said  to  owe  its  origin  to  Hurleigh  and  Burleigh, 
two  neighbouring  families,  that  filled  the  country  around 
them  with  contest  and  violence,"  and  that  the  word 
i^o/i !  "  used  to  frighten  children,  was  the  name  of  Boh, 
a  great  general,  the  son  of  Odin,  whose  very  appellation 
struck  immediate  panic  in  his  enemies."  2 

The  histon/  oi  ckozcse  exemplifies  the  same  tendency. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  it  comes  from  a  Turkish  word 
meaning  interpreter,  spelt  chaus  in  Hakluyt  and  chiaus 
by  Ben  Jonson.  The  borrowing  is  parallel  to  that  of 
co^^en  (p.  142),  interpreters  having  a  reputation  little 
superior  to  that  of  horse-coursers.  But  a  century  and 
a  half  after  the  introduction  of  the  word  we  come 
across  a  circumstantial  story  of  a  Turkish  chiaus  who 
swindled  some  London  merchants  of  a  large  sum  in 
1609,  the  year  before  Jonson  used  the  word  in  the 
Alchemist.  "  Corroborative  detail "  again.  The  story 
may  be  true,  but  there  is  not  an  atom  of  evidence  for 
it,  and  Skinner,  who  suggests  the  correct  derivation  in 
his  Etymologicon  (1671),  does  not  mention  it.  Until 
contemporary  evidence  is  adduced,  the  story  must  be 
regarded  as  one  of  those  fables  which  have  been 
invented  in  dozens  by  early  etymologists,  and  which 
are  perpetuated  in  popular  works  of  reference.  It  is  an 
article  of  faith  in  Yorkshire  that  the  coarse  material 
called  mungo  owes    its   name   to    the  inventor   of  the 

^  Cf,  Fr.  hurhtherlu^  which  occurs  in  Rabelais,  and  in  Rostand's  Cyrano 
de  Bergerac. 

^  I  am  tempted  to  quote  further  from  this  inexhaustible  mine,  e.g., 
hdlahy  from  a  fairy  called  Ellaby  Gaihori^  whom  nurses  invited  to  watch 
the  sleeping  babes.  The  title  of  this  cherished  volume  is  Puli'eyns 
Etymological  Compendium^  ^xd  cd.^rt\\std:ix\'l\vci^xovtd  by  M.  A,  Thorns, 
(Tegg&Co.,  1S53.) 


ANECDOTIC  ETY:vIOLOGY  177 

machine  used  in  its  fabrication,  who,  when  it  stuck  at  a 
first  trial,  exclaimed  with  resolution,  "  It  mun  go^' 

Many  stories  have  been  composed  ap res  coup  to 
explain  the  American  hoodlum  and  the  Australian 
larrikin^  which  are  both  older  than  our  hooligan  (see 
p.  lo).  The  origin  of  hoodlum  is  quite  obscure.  The 
story  believed  in  Australia  with  regard  to  larrikin  is  that 
an  Irish  policeman,  giving  evidence  of  the  arrest  of  a 
rough,  explained  that  the  accused  was  a -larrikin^ 
(larking)  in  the  street,  and  this  was  misunderstood 
by  a  reporter.  But  there  appears  to  be  not  the 
slightest  foundation  for  this  story.  The  word  is 
perhaps  a  diminutive  of  the  common  Irish  name 
Larry^  also  immortalised  in  the  stirring  ballad — 

"  The  night  before  Larry  was  stretched." 

As  I  write,  there  is  a  correspondence  going  on  in 
the  Nottingham  papers  as  to  the  origin  of  the  nickname 
BendigOy  borne  by  a  local  bruiser  and  evangelist,  who 
gave  his  name  to  an  Australian  town  and  a  fur  cap. 
He  was  one  of  triplets,  whom,  according  to  one  account, 
a  jocular  friend  of  the  fam.ily  nicknamed  Shadrach, 
Meschach,  and  Abed-Nego,  the  last  of  which  was  the 
future  celebrity.  This  is  quite  plausible,  but  there  is 
no  sound  evidence.  The  rival  theory  is  that  when  he 
was  playing  in  the  streets  and  his  father  appeared  in 
the  offing,  his  companions  used  to  warn  him  by  crying 
'^  Bendy  go  !''  This  theory  disregards  the  assertion  of 
the  "  oldest  inhabitant "  that  the  great  man  was  never 
called  Bendy,  and  the  fact,  familiar  to  any  observer  of 
the  local  dialect,  that,  even  if  he  had  been  so  called, 
the  form  of  warning  would  have  been,  "  Look  aht, 
Bendy,  yer  daddy's  a-coomen." 

In  the  Supplement  to  Littre  there  is  an  article  on 
domino,  in  which  he  points  out  that  investigation  must 

M 


178     ETY]MOLOGICAL  FACT  AND  FICTION 

start  from  the  phrase  faire  domino  (see  p.  94).  He 
also  quotes  an  absurd  anecdote  from  a  local  magazine, 
which  professes  to  come  from  a  *'vieille  chronique." 
Littre  naturally  wants  to  know  what  chronicle.  In 
Scheler's  Dictionary  (Brussels,  1888),  it  is  "proved" 
by  means  of  the  same  story  elaborated,  "que  c'est  la 
la  veritable  origine  du  mot  dont  nous  parlons." 

In  Brewer's  Dictionary  of  Phrase  and  Fable ^  s.v. 
sirloin^  we  read  that  "  it  is  generally  said  that  James  I. 
or  Charles  II.  knighted  the  loin  of  beef,  but  Henry 
VIII.  had  done  so  already."  This  sounds  like  a  deter- 
mination to  get  at  the  root  of  things,  but  does  not  go 
far  enough.  The  word  is  found  in  the  15th  century, 
and  Fr.  surlonge^  from  which  it  comes,  in  the  14th. 
It  is  compounded  of  sur^  over,  and  longe^  a  derivative 
of  Lat.  binibiis^  loin.  The  belief  in  the  knightly  origin 
of  sirloin  w^as  so  strong  that  we  find  it  playfully  called 
the  baronet  {To jh  Jones ^  iv.  10).  Hence,  no  doubt,  the 
name  baron  of  beef  for  the  double  sirloin.  Traju  is  per- 
sistently connected  with  a  Mr  Outraniy  who  flourished 
about  1800.  This  is  another  case  of  intelligent  anticipa- 
tion, for  the  word  is  found  in  1555.  It  means  log  or 
beam,  and  was  probably  first  applied  to  a  log-road 
laid  across  bad  ground,  what  is  called  in  America 
a  "corduroy"  road.  On  the  other  hand,  the  obvious 
and  simple  derivation  of  bccf-eafer,  i.e.  a  man  who  is  in 
the  enviable  position  of  being  sure  of  his  daily  allow- 
ance,^ has  been  obscured  by  the  invention  of  an 
imaginary  Fr.  '*  beaufetiery  waiter  at  the  side-board. 
Professor  Skeat  attributes  the  success  of  this  myth  to 

'  The  following  explanation,  given  in  Mifege's  French  Dicticnary  (1688), 
is  perhaps  not  far  wrong  :  *'  C'est  ainsi  qu'on  appelle  par  derision  les 
Yeomen  of  the  Guard  dsiUS  la  cour  d'Angleterre,  qui  sont  des  gardes  ^  peu 
pr^s  comme  les  cent  Suisses  en  France.  Et  on  leur  donne  ce  nom-lu,  parce 
qu*  k  la  cour  ils  ne  vivent  que  de  bocuf :  par  opposition  a  ces  colleges 
d'Angleterre,  ou  les  Ecoliers  ne  mangent  que  du  mouton." 


ANECDOTIC  ETYMOLOGY  179 

its  inclusion  in  Mrs  Markham's  History  of  England. 
But  the  most  indestructible  of  all  these  superstitions 
is  connected  with  the  word  cabal.  It  comes  from  a 
Hebrew  word  meaning  hidden  mystery,  and  is  found 
in  the  chief  Romance  languages.  The  word  is  of 
frequent  occurrence  in  English  long  before  the  date 
of  Charles  II.'s  acrostic  ministry,^  though  its  modern 
meaning  has  naturally  been  affected  by  this  historic 
connection. 

Even  anecdotic  etymologies  accepted  by  the  most 
cautious  modern  authorities  do  not  always  inspire 
complete  confidence.  Martinet  is  supposed  to  come 
from  the  name  of  a  well-known  French  officer  who 
reorganised  the  French  infantry  about  1670.  We  find 
it  used  by  Wycherley  in  1676,  forty  years  before 
Martinet's  death.  But  this  application  of  the  name  is 
unknown  in  French,  which  has,  however,  a  word 
tnartinet  meaning  a  kind  of  cat-o'-nine-tails.  In 
English,  martinet  means  the  leech-Hne  of  a  sail,  hence, 
possibly,  rope's  end,  and  Wycherley  applies  the  term  to 
a  brutal  sea-captain.  The  most  renowned  of  carriers 
is  probably  Hobson,  of  Cambridge.  He  was  sung  by 
Milton,  and  bequeathed  to  the  town  Hobson's  conduit 
which  cleanses  the  Cambridge  gutters.  To  him  is 
also  ascribed  the  phrase  Hobson  s  choice,  from  his  custom 
of  refusing  to  let  out  his  horses  except  in  strict  rotation. 
But  Richard  Cocks,  a  merchant  venturer  living  in 
Japan,  uses  '^Hodgson's  choice"  in  his  diary  for  the  year 
1617,  i.e.,  fourteen  years  before  the  carrier  left  this 
world  and  became  a  legendar}^  figure. 

^  An  acrostic  of  this  kind  would  have  no  point  if  it  resulted  in  a 
meaningless  word.  In  the  same  way  the  Old  Fr.  Fauvel,  whence  our  curry 
favour  (stQ  p.  i2o),  has  medieval  explanations  of  the  acrostic  kind,  e.g.^  as 
standing  for  the  vices  Faiiieantise^  Avarice^  Usure,  Vanite\  Envie,  Liixure. 
I  am  not  sure  about  the  exact  vices,  as  I  have  lost  the  reference  and  quote 
from  memory. 


ISO   etyjviological  fact  and  fiction 

The  most  obvious  etymology  needs  to  be  proved  up 
to  the  hilt,  and  the  process  is  rich  in  surprises. 
Caynhridge  appears  to  be  the  bridge  over  the  Cam. 
But  the  river's  older  name,  which  it  preserves  above 
the  town,  is  the  Granta^  and  Bede  calls  the  town  itself 
Grantacester.  Camden,  in  his  Britannia  (trad.  Holland, 
1637),  notes  that  the  county  was  called  "in  the  English 
Saxon  "  Grentbrigseyre,  and  comments  on  the  double 
name  of  the  river.  Nor  can  he  "easily  beleeve  that 
Grant  was  turned  into  Cam;  for  this  might  seeme  a 
deflexion  some  what  too  hardly  streined,  wherein 
all  the  letters  but  one  are  quite  swallowed  up." 
Grantabrigge  became,  by  dissimilation  (see  p.  52), 
Gantabrigge,  Ca7itabrigge  (cf.  Cantab),  Ca?itbrigge,  and,  by 
assimilation  (see  p.  51),  Cambridge^  the  river  being 
rechristened  from  the  name  of  the  town.  A  beggar 
is  not  etymologically  one  who  begs^  or  a  cadger  one 
vrho  cadges.  In  each  case  the  verb  is  evolved  from 
the  noun.  About  the  year  1200  Lambert  le  Begiie^ 
the  Stammerer,  is  said  to  have  founded  a  religious 
order  in  Belgium.  The  monks  were  called  after  him 
in  medieval  Latin  beghardi  and  the  nuns  beghince. 
The  Old  Fr.  begard  passed  into  Anglo-P'rench,  with 
the  meaning  of  mendicant  and  gave  our  beggar.  From 
begiiine  we  get  biggin,  a  sort  of  cap  (2  Henry  IV.,  iv.  4). 
Cadger,  or  rather  its  Scot,  form  cadgear^  a  pedlar,  occurs 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  earlier  than  the  verb  to 
cadge.  We  find,  noted  as  foreign  words,  in  16th-century 
Dutch,  the  words  cagie,  a  basket  carried  on  the  back, 
and  cagiaerd,  one  who  carries  such  a  basket.  These 
must  be  of  French  origin,  and  come,  like  the  obsolete 
Eng.  cadge}  a  panier,  from  cage,  for  the  history  of  which 

^  There  is  also  a.  word  cadge^  explained  in  the  glossary  to  a  book  on 
falconr}'  (1615)  as  a  kind  of  frame  on  which  an  itinerant  vendor  of  hawks 
carried  his  birds.     But  it  is  unrecorded  in  literature  and  labours  under  the 


ETYMOLOGICAL  TESTS  181 

see  p.  loi.  Cadger  is  used  in  Scottish  of  an  itinerant 
fish  merchant  with  his  goods  carried  in  paniers  by 
a  pony.  Tobacco  does  not  take  its  name  from  the 
island  of  Tobago,  but  from  the  native  name  of  the  tube 
through  which  the  Caribs  smoked  it. 

The  traditional  derivation  of  i-ainit  is  from  Fr. 
vanter^2.n^  this  from  a  late  Lat.  z-a?ntarc,  to  talk  emptily, 
used  by  St  Augustine.  This  looks  very  simple,  but 
the  real  history  of  these  v/orcs  is  m^ost  complicated. 
In  Mid.  English  we  regularly  find  as  aunt ^  which  comes 
from  Old  Fr.  ava?iter^  to  put  forward,  from  avant^ 
before.  This  gets  mixed  up  during  the  Tudor  period 
with  another  van  fit  from  Fr.  vayiUr^  to  extol,  the 
derivation  of  v/hich  can  only  be  settled  v.-hen  its  earliest 
form  is  ascertained.  At  present  v-.-e  find  veriter  as  early 
as  vanter,  and  this  would  represent  Lat.  vc7iditare 
(frequentative  of  vendere^  to  sell),  to  push  one's  goods, 
"  to  do  anything  before  m.en  to  set  forth  himselfe  and 
have  a  prayse  ;  to  vatmf ;  to  crake  ;  to  brag"  (Cooper). 

A  sound  etymology  must  fulfil  three  conditions. 
It  must  not  violate  the  recognised  lavrs  of  sound  change. 
The  development  of  meaning  must  be  clearly  traced. 
This  must  coincide  with  the  earliest  or  fundamental  sense 
of  the  word.  It  goes  without  saying  (see  p.  125)  that  in 
modern  corruptions  we  are  sometimes  faced  by  cases 
which  it  would  be  difficult  to  explain  phonetically. 
There  are,  in  fact,  besides  the  general  phonetic  and 
semantic  laws,  a  number  of  obscure  and  accidental 
influences  at  work  which  are  not  yet  codified.  As 
we  have  seen  (p.  175),  complete  apparent  dissimilarity 
of  sound  and  sense  need  not  prevent  two  words  from 

suspicion  of  b«ing  a  gho5l-'.vord.  Its  Hrs:  ocoirrence,  outside  the  diction- 
aries, is,  I  believe,  in  Mr  Hewlett's  S':n:g  r/ .■'?:? ^.-r/,  just  published — "the 
nominal  service  of  a  pair  of  gerfalcons  j-early,  in  golden  hoods,  upon 
a  golden  cadge  "  (Ch.  i.). 

M  2 


182     ETYMOLOGICAL  FACT  AND  FICTION 

being  originally  one;i  but  we  have  to  trace  them  both 
back  until  dissimilarity  becomes  first  similarity  and 
then  identity. 

The  word  peruse  meant  originally  to  wear  out,  Old 
Vx.  par-user.  In  the  i6th  century  it  means  to  sort  or 
sift,  especially  herbs,  and  hence  to  scrutinise  a  docu- 
ment, etc.  But  between  the  earliest  meaning  and  that 
of  sifting  there  is  a  gap  which  no  ingenuity  can  bridge, 
and,  until  this  is  done,  we  are  not  justified  in  regard- 
ing the  Tv^Q^QXXi  penes e  as  identical  with  the  earlier. 

The  maxim  of  Jakob  Grimm,  "  von  den  Wortern  zu 
den  Sachen"  is  too  often  neglected.  In  dealing  with 
the  etymology  of  a  word  which  is  the  name  of  an  object 
or  of  an  action,  we  must  first  find  out  exactly  what  the 
original  object  looked  like  or  how  the  original  action 
was  performed.  The  etymologist  must  either  be  an 
antiquary  or  must  know  where  to  go  for  sound 
antiquarian  information.  I  will  illustrate  this  by  three 
words  denoting  objects  used  by  medieval  or  Elizabethan 
fighting  men. 

A  fencing/^// is  sometimes  vaguely  referred  to  the 
verb  foil^  to  baffle,  with  which  it  has  no  connection. 
The  Fr.  feuille^  leaf,  is  also  invoked,  and  compared 
with  Vx.fleuret^  a  foil,  the  idea  being  that  the  name  was 
given  to  the  "  button  "  at  the  point.  Now  the  earliest 
jgUs  and  fieurets  were  not  buttoned  ;  first,  because  they 
were  pointless,  and  secondly,  because  the  point  was  not 
used  in  early  fencing.  It  was  not  until  gunpowder 
began  to  bring  about  the  disuse  of  heavy  armour  that 
anybody  ever  dreamt  of  thrusting.  The  earliest  fencing 
v/as  hacking  with  sword  and  buckler,  and  the  early /^// 

^  This  seems  to  have  been  realised  by  the  author  of  the  Etymological 
Coinptndhun  (see  p.  176,  footnote),  who  tells  us  that  the  "term  swallow  is 
derived  from  the  French  hironddle^  signifying  indiscriminately  voracious, 
literally  a  marshy  place,  that  absorbs  or  szvalloivs  what  comes  within  its 
vortex." 


FOIL— PETROXEL  183 

was  a  rough  sword-blade  quite  unlike  the  implement  we 
now  use.  Fleuret  meant  in  Old  Frer.ch  a  sword-blade 
not  yet  polished  and  hilted,  and  we  find  it  used,  as  we 
do  Eng.  foil^  of  an  apology  for  a  s-.vord  carried  by  a 
gallant  very  much  down  at  heel  As  late  as  Cotgrave 
we  ^nd  fioret,  "a  foile ;  a  sword  with  the  edge  rebated." 
Therefore  foil  is  the  same  as  Yr.feuille}  which  in  Old 
French  meant  sword-blade,  and  is  still  used  for  the  blade 
of  a  saw;  but  the  name  has  nothing  to  do  v>-ith  what  did 
not  adorn  the  tip.  It  is  natural  that  Yx.  feuille  should 
be  applied,  like  Eng.  leaf^  blade,  to  an\-thing  flat  {cf.  Ger. 
Blattj  leaf),  and  we  find  in  16th-century  Dutch  the 
borrowed  word  folie,  used  in  the  three  senses  of  leaf, 
metal  plate,  broadsword,  which  is  conclusive. 

We  find  frequent  allusions  in  the  i6th  and  17th 
centuries  to  a  weapon  called  a  ^etroyiel,  a  flint-lock  fire- 
arm intermediate  in  size  between  an  arquebus  and  a 
pistol.     It  occurs  several  times  in  Scott — 

"  'Twas  then  I  fired  my  p-etronel. 
And  Mortham,  steed  and  rider  felL^ 

{Rok^cry,  i.  19.) 

On  the  strength  of  a  French  ioini^poitrinal,  it  has  been 
connected  with  Fr.  poitrine^  chest,  and  various  explana- 
tions are  given.  The  earliest  is  that  of  the  famous" 
Huguenot  surgeon  Ambroise  Pare,  vrho  speaks  of  the 
"  mousquets  poitrinals^  que  Ton  ne  couche  en  joue,  a 
cause  de  leur  calibre  gros  et  court,  mais  qui  se  tirent  de 
la poitriner  I  cannot  help  thinking  that,  if  the  learned 
author  had  attempted  this  method  of  discharging  an 
early  firearm,  his  anatomical  experience,  wide  as  it  was, 
would  have  been  considerably  enlarged.  Minsheu 
(1617)  describes  ^ petronell 2.S  ''a  horseman's  peece  first 
used  in  the  Pyrenean  mountaines,  which  hanged  them 

^  And  therefore  identical  with  the/:-/  cf  liK/ci:,  ccfunUr/iyil,  etc. 


184     ETYMOLOGICAL  FACT  AND  FICTION 

alwayes  at  their  breast^  readie  to  shoote,  as  they  doe  now 
at  the  horse's  breast."  This  information  is  derived  from 
Claude  Fauchet,  whose  interesting  Antiquites  fraricoises 
et  gmdoises  were  published  in  1579.  Phillips,  in  his 
New  World  of  Words  (1678)  tells  us  that  this  "kind  of 
harquebuse,  or  horseman's  piece,  is  so  called,  because  it 
is  to  aim  at  a^  horse's  brest^  as  it  were poictro?iel"  When 
we  turn  from  fiction  to  fact,  we  find  that  the  oldest 
French  name  was  p^trinal,  "  a  petronell^  or  horse-man's 
peece"  (Cotgrave),  occasionally  corrupted,  perhaps 
owing  to  the  way  in  which  the  weapon  was  slung,  into 
poitrinal.  This  corruption  would  be  facilitated  by  the 
16th-century  pronunciation  of  ^/ (p^/trine).  The  French 
word  is  borrowed  either  from  Ital.  petronello,  pietronello^ 
"  a  petronell "  (Florio),  or  from  Span,  pedrenal^  "  a 
petrcnall^  a  horse-man's  peece,  ita  diet,  quod  silice  petra 
ihcenditur  "  (Minsheu,  Spanish  Dictionary ^  1623).  Thus 
Minsheu  knew  the  origin  of  the  word,  though  he  had 
put  the  fiction  in  his  earlier  work.  We  find  other  forms 
in  Italian  and  Spanish,  but  they  all  go  back  to  Ital. 
pietra^  petra,  or  Span,  piedra,  pedra,  stone,  flint.  The 
usual  Spanish  word  for  flint  is  peder7iaL  Our  word,  as 
its  form  shows,  came  direct  from  Italian.^  The  new 
weapon  was  named  from  its  chief  feature ;  cf.  Ger. 
Flinte,  "a  light  gun,  a  hand-gun,  pop-gun,  arquebuss, 
fire-arm,  fusil  or  fusee""  (Ludwig).  The  substitution 
of  the  flint-lock  for  the  old  match-lock  brought  about  a 
re-naming  of  European  fire-arms,  and,  as  this  substitu- 
tion was  first  effected  in  the  cavalry,  petro7iel  acquired 
the  special  micaning  of  horse-pistol.     It  is  curious  that, 

^  It  is  a  diminutive  of  some  word  which  appears  to  be  unrecorded  [cf. 
Fr.  pisioht  for  the  obsolete  pistole).  Charles  Reade,  whose  archaeology  is 
very  sound,  makes  Denys  of  Burgundy  say,  ^^  Peirone  nor  harquebuss  shall 
ever  put  down  Sir  Arbalest  "  (Cloister  and  Hearth^  Ch.  xxiv.)  ;  but  I  can 
find  no  other  authority  for  the  word. 

-  This  word  occurs  in  Robinson  Critsoe. 


HELMETS  185 

while  we  find  practically  all  the  French  and  Italian  fire- 
arm names  In  17th-century  German,  a  natural  result  of 
the  Thirty  Years'  War,  petj^onel  does  not  appear  to  be 
recorded.  The  reason  is  probably  that  the  Germans 
had  their  cv/n  name,  viz.,  Schnapphahn^  snap-cock,  the 
English  form  of  which,  snaphaunce,  seems  also  to  have 
prevailed  oizx  petronel.  Cotgrave  has  arqtiehise  a  fusil, 
"  a  snapJiauncel''  and  explains  fusil  as  "  a  fire-stcele  for  a 
tinder-box."  This  is  medieval  Lat.  focilCy  from  focus, 
fire,  etc. 

The  mcst  general  name  for  a  helmet  up  to  about 
1450  was  bisnet^  or  bacinet.  This,  as  its  name  implies 
(see  p.  145),  vs-as  a  basin-shaped  steel  cap  worn  by  fight- 
ing men  of  all  ranks.  The  knights  and  nobles  wore  it 
under  their  great  ornamental  helms.^  The  bas?tet  itself 
was  perfectly  plain.  About  the  end  of  the  1 6th  century 
the  usual  English  helmets  were  the  burgonet  and 
morionr  These  were  often  very  decorative,  as  may  be 
seen  by  a  visit  to  any  collection  of  old  armour.  Spenser 
speaks  of  a  "guilt  engraven  morion''  {Faerie  Qiieene,  vii. 
7).  Bet^veen  the  basnet  and  these  reigned  the  salet  or 
salade^  on  vrhich  Jack  Cade  puns  execrably — 

"Wherefore,  on  a  brick  wall  have  I  climbed  into  this  garden, 
to  see  if  I  can  eat  grass,  or  p]ck  a  sallet  another  while,  which  is 
not  amiss  to  cool  a  man's  stomach  this  hot  weather.  And  T  think 
this  word  sidUt  was  born  to  do  me  good,  for  many  a  time,  but  for 
a  sallet^  my  LTain-pan  had  been  cleft  with  a  brown-bill." 

(2  Henry  VI.,  iv.  10.) 

It  comes,  through  Fr.  salade,  from  Ital.  celata,  "  a  scull,  a 

1  Over  the  -^mb  of  :be  Black  Prince  in  Canterbury  Cathedral  hangs 
his  cumbrous  t-It:ng  helmet.  But  the  magnificent  recumbent  bronze  efUgy 
below  represents  him  in  his  Eghting  kit,  basnet  on  head. 

2  Burgomt,  Fr.  bourguigTwite,  is  supposed  to  mean  Burguridian  helmet. 
The  origin  cf  TK.:irion  is  unknown,  but  its  use  by  Scott  in  Ivanhoe  is  an 
anachronism  bj  four  centuries.  Both  words  are  used  vaguely  as  general 
names  for  hekzet. 


186     ETYIVIOLOGICAL  FACT  AND  FICTION 

helmet,  a  morion,  a  sallat^  a  headpiece  "  (Florio).  The 
etymologists  of  the  17th  century,  familiar  with  the 
appearance  of  "guilt  engraven  morions,"  connected  it 
with  Lat.  c(zlare^  to  engrave,  and  this  derivation  has 
been  repeated  ever  since  without  examination.  Now 
in  the  Tower  of  London  Armoury  is  a  large  collection 
of  saletSy  and  these,  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two 
late  German  specimens  from  the  ornate  period,  are 
plain  steel  caps  of  the  simplest  form  and  design.  The 
salet  was,  in  fact,  the  basnet  slightly  modified,  worn  by 
the  rank  and  file  of  15th-century  armies,  and  probably, 
like  the  basnet^  worn  under  the  knight's  tilting  helm. 
There  is  no  Italian  verb  celare,  to  engrave,  but  there  is 
a  very  common  verb  celare^  to  conceal.  A  steel  cap  vv^as 
also  called  in  Italian  secreta,  "  a  thinne  Steele  cap,  or 
close  skull,  worne  under  a  hat "  (Florio),  and  in  Old  Fr. 
segrettey  "an  yron  skull,  or  cap  of  fence"  (Cotgrave). 
Both  words  are  confirmed  by  Duez,  who,  in  his  Italian- 
Freftch  Dictionary  (1660),  has  secreta^  "  une  secrette,  ou 
segrette,  un  morion,  une  bourguignotte,  armure  de  teste 
pour  les  picquiers."  Ergo,  the  salet  belongs  to  Lat. 
celare^  to  hide,  secrete. 

We  now  catdk  a  ship  by  forcing  oakum  into  the 
seams.  Hence  the  verb  to  caulk  is  explained  as  coming 
from  Mid.  Eng.  cauken,  to  tread,  Old  Fr.  cauquer^ 
caucher,  Lat.  calcare^  from  calx,  heel.  This  makes  the 
process  somewhat  acrobatic,  although  this  is  not, 
philologically,  a  very  serious  objection.  But  we  catdk 
the  ship  or  the  seams,  not  the  oakum.  Primitive 
ca2ilki?zg  consisted  in  plastering  a  wicker  coracle  with 
clay.  The  earliest  caulker  on  record  is  Noah,  who 
pitched  ^  his  ark  within  and  without  with  pitch.  In  the 
Vulgate  {Genesis,  vi.  14),  \.\\q pitch  is  called  bitumen  and 

^  See  pay  (p.  149).     It  will  be  found  that  all  verbs  of  this  nature  are 
formed  from  the  name  of  the  substance  applied. 


"  HOWLERS  •-  187 

the  verb  is  linere^  "  to  daub,  besmear,  eta"  Next  in 
chronological  order  comes  the  mother  of  Moses, 
who  "  took  for  him  an  ark  of  bulrushes,  and  daubed  it 
with  slime  and  with  pitch "  {Exodus,  ii.  3),  bitu7nine  ac 
pice  in  the  Vulgate.  Bitumen,  or  mineral  pitch,  was 
regularly  applied  to  this  purpose,  even  by  Elizabethan 
seamen.  Failing  this,  anything  sticky  and  unctuous 
was  used,  e.g.,  clay  or  lime.  Liine  now  means  usually 
oxide  calcium,  but  its  original  sense  is  anything 
viscous ;  cf.  Ger.  Leim,  glue,  and  our  bird-//;«^.  Our 
caulk  is  in  medieval  Latin  cakare,  and  this  represents 
a  rare  Latin  verb  calicare,  to  plaster  with  lime,  from 
calx,  lime.  The  oldest  example  of  the  verb  to  caulk 
is  about  1500.  In  Mid.  English  we  find  to  Ujjic  used 
instead,  e.g.,  in  reference  to  the  ark,  ''  set  and  limed  agen 
the  flood"  (c.  1250),  and  " lyme  it  vrith  cleye  and  pitche 
within  and  without"  (Caxton,  1483).  Almost  every 
language  which  has  a  nautical  vocabulary  uses  for  our 
caulk  a  verb  related  to  Fr.  calfatcr.  This  is  of  Spanish 
or  Portuguese  origin.  The  Portuguese  vrord  is  calafetar, 
from  cal,  lime,  and  afeitar,  to  put  in  order,  trim,  etc. 

The  readiness  of  lexicographers  to  copy  from  each 
other  sometimes  leads  to  ludicrous  results.  The  origin 
of  the  word  curmudgeon  is  quite  unknown  ;  but,  when  Dr 
Johnson  was  at  work  on  his  dictionary,  he  received  from 
an  unknown  correspondent  the  suggestion  that  it  was  a 
corruption  of  Fr.  cceur  mechayit,  vricked  heart.  Accord- 
ingly we  find  in  his  dictionary,  "  It  is  a  vitious  manner 
of  pronouncing  cceur  mechant,  Fr.  an  unknown 
correspondent."  John  Ash,  LL.D.,  who  published  a 
very  complete  dictionary  in  1775,  gives  the  derivation 
"from  the  French  cceur,  unknown,  and  micliant,  a 
correspondent,"  an  achievement  which,  says  Todd,  "will 
always  excite  both  in  foreigners  and  natives  a  harmless 
smile ! " 


188     ETY3I0L0GICAL  FACT  AND  FICTION 

It  is  thus  that  "  ghost-words  "  come  into  existence. 
Ever}/  considerable  English  dictionary,  from  Spelman's 
Glossayiwn  (1664)  onward,  has  the  ^vAxy  ahacot^  "a  cap 
of  state,  wrought  up  into  the  shape  of  two  crowns,  worn 
formerly  by  English  kings."      For  the  history  of  this 
"  word  "  see  the  New  English  Dictionary,  the  editor  of 
which   has    laid   this    particular   ghosL^     Abacot  seems 
to  be  a  misprint  or  misunderstanding  of  a  hicocket,  a 
kind  of  horned  head-dress.    It  corresponds  to  an  Old  Fr. 
bicoquet  and  Span,  bicoquete^  cap,  the  derivation  of  which 
is   uncertain.     Of    somewhat   later   date   is   brooch,   "  a 
painting  all  in  one  colour,"  which  likewise  occurs  in  all 
dictionaries  of  the  i8th   and    19th   centuries.     This  is 
due    to    Miege  {French   Diet.    1688)    misunderstanding 
Cotgrave.      There   is    a    Fr.   camaieti^   a   derivative   of 
caineo^  which  has  two  meanings,  viz.,  a  cameo  brooch  and 
a    monochrome   painting  with    a  cameo  effect.     Miege 
appears   to   have    taken    the   second    meaning   to    be 
explanatory    of    the     first,    hence     his     entry — brooch-, 
"camayeu,   ouvrage   de    peinture   qui    n'est   que    d'une 
couleur."     In  Manwayring's  Seaman's  Dictionary  (1644), 
the  old  word  cai^oel,  applied  to  a  special  build  of  ship,  is 
misprinted  carnell^  and  this  we  find  persisting,  not  only 
in  the  compilations  of  such  writers  as  Bailey,  Ash,  etc., 
but  even  in  technical  dictionaries  of  the  iSth  century 
''  by  officers  who  serv'd  several  years  at  sea  and  land." 
The  Anglo-Saxon  name  for  the  kestrel  (see  p.  92)  was 
stangella^   stone-yeller    {cf.    nightin^^:/^),  which   appears 
later  as  stonegall  and  staniel.     In  the  i6th  century  we 
find  the  curious  spelling  steingall^  eg.,  Cooper  explains 
tinnnnciilus    as   "  a   kistrel,  or   a   kastrell ;    a  steyngallP 
In  Cotgrave  we  find  it  printed  fl.eingall,  a  form  which 
recurs  in  several  later  dictionaries  of  the  17th  century. 

'  See  letter  by  Dr  Murray,  now  Sir  James  Murray,  in  the  Athenceum^ 
Feb.  4,  1884. 


UNSOLVED  PROBLEMS  189 

Hence,  somewhere  between  Cooper  and  Cotgrave, 
an  ornithologist  or  lexicographer  must  have  mis- 
printed flcingall  for  steingall  by  the  common  mistake 
q{  fl  (or  ft,  and  the  ghost-word  persists  into  the  i8th 
century. 

The  difficulty  of  the  etymologist's  task  is  exemplified 
by  the  complete  mystery  which  often  enshrouds  a  word 
of  comparatively  recent  appearance.  A  well-known 
example  h  the  word  Huguenot^  for  which  fifteen 
different  etymologies  have  been  proposed.  We  first 
find  the  word  used  in  1550,  and  by  1572  the  French 
word-hunter  Tabourot,  generally  known  as  des  Accords, 
has  quite  a  number  of  theories  on  the  subject.  He  is 
worth  quoting  in  full — 

"  De  nostre  temps  ce  mot  de  Huguenots^  ou  Hucnois  s'est  ainsi 
intronise  :  quelque  chose  qu'ayent  escrit  quelquesruns,  que  ce  mot 
vient  Gnostids  hcsreticis  qui  lu7ninibus  extinctis  sacra  faciebant^ 
selon  Crinit :  ou  bien  du  Roy  Hugues  Capet,  ou  de  la  porta  de 
Hugon  "k  Tours  par  laquelle  ils  sortoient  pour  aller  ^  leur  presche. 
Lors  que  les  pretendus  Reformez  implorerent  I'ayde  des  voix  des 
Allemans,  aussi  bien  que  de  leurs  armees  :  les  Protestans  estans 
venus  parler  en  leur  faveur,  devant  Monsieur  le  Chancelier,  en 
grande  assemblee,  le  premier  mot  que  profera  celuy  qui  portoit  le 
propos,  fut^  Hue  nos  ve?ii?nus  :  Et  apres  estant  presse  d'un  reuthme 
{rhuyne^  cold)  il  ne  peut  passer  outre  ;  tellement  que  le  second  dit 
le  mesme,  Hue  nos  venimus.  Et  les  courtisans  presents  qui 
n'entendoient  pas  telle  prolation  ;  car  selon  la  nostre  ils  prononcent 
Houc  710S  venimouSy  estimerent  que  ce  fussent  quelques  gens  ainsi 
nommez  :  et  depuis  sumommerent  ceux  de  la  Religion  pretenduc 
reformee,  Hucnos  :  en  apres  changeant  C  en  G^  Hugnois^  ct  avec 
le  temps  on  a  allonge  ce  mot,  et  dit  Huguenots.  Et  voyk\  la  vraye 
source  du  mot,  s'il  n'y  en  a  autre  meilleure."  ^ 

The  only  serious  etymology  is  Ger.  Ezdgenoss,  oath 
companion,  which  agrees  pretty  well  with  the  earliest 

*  The  Encydopcsdia  Britannica  does  not  imitate  the  wise  reticence  of 
Tabourot's  sa'.-ing  clause,  but  pronounces  authoritatively  for  the  porte  de 
Hngon  fable. 


190     ETYMOLOGICAL  FACT  AND  FICTION 

recorded    Swiss  -  French   form,   eigicenot,  in   Bonivard's 
Chronicle  of  Geneva, 

The  engineering  term  culvert  first  appears  about 
1800,  and  there  is  not  the  sHghtest  clue  to  its  origin. 
Swank  is  only  a  year  or  two  old.  Is  it  evolved  from 
swagger?  If  so,  how?  Or  is  it  the  Scot,  swanky 
limber,  tall,  agile  ;  swankie^  a  strapping  youth  ?  If  so, 
who  brought  it  suddenly  to  England  ?  The  word  ogrCy 
first  used  by  Perrault  in  his  Contes  de  Fees  (1697),  has 
occasioned  much  grave  and  learned  speculation.  Perhaps 
the  philologists  of  the  future  may  theorise  as  sapiently 
as  to  the  origin  oi  jabberivock  and  handersnatch. 


INDEX 


Abacot,  iiS 
abet,  70  n. 
abeyance,  99 
abominate,  3 
abracadabra,  13  u. 
accomplice,  118  ^i. 
acquaint,  72 
acton,  116 
adder,  104 
adjutant,  30,  136 
admiral,  137 
affidavit,  4 
ague,  128 
aitch-bone,  104 
akimbo,  93 
Alabaster,  1 58 
alarm,  106 
alarum,  106 
albert  chain,  35 
alcade,  I06 
alderman,  85 
Aldridge,  159 
Alec,  64 
alert,  106 
alguazil,  106 
alibi,  4 
alley,  63 
alligator, 
Allman,  161 
allure,  loi 
alone,  57 
A.M.,  3 
ampersand,  52 
analysis,  6 
ancient,  118 
andiron,  106 
Andrea  Ferrara,  46 
anecdotage,  122 
animal,  4 

191 


anisct.  54 
Annabel,  53 
ansaius,  93 
antic  130 
antlers,  92 
ant-lion,  29 
ap<zche^  II 
A^J'ehim,  28 
appeach,  57 
appendicitis,  lo 
apprentice,  IC9 
apricot,  18 
Apriics^,  1 8 
apron.  52,  IC4 
Arabelia,  53 
arboiir,  122 
arch,  75 
argosy,  46 
ar:r.go.  21 
arles,  II o 
arn:ada,  2 
arrrJi^  2 
Amitige,  50 
Armstrong,  i63 
aronia,  6 
arquebus,  117 
arrant,  76 
arras,  43 
array,  88,  n,  I 
arr'Jtrt-<'an^  67 
assassin,  20 
assegai,  23 
asset,  107 
assize,  57 
ass  oil.  9 
assoilzie,  9 
astonish,  97 
astound,  97 
atlas,  6 


192 


INDEX 


atomy,  57 
atout,  8 
x\tkin,  159 
Atteaborough,  160 
Atwocd,  160 
auberge,  152 
Aubray,  162 
Azigensprosse^  92 
auger,  104 
avers,  132 
avoirdupois,  132 
ayah,  24 

Bacchus,  158 

'baccy,  60 
bacinet,  185 
bachelor's  buttons,  27 
backg?.mmon,  147 
badaud^  99,  ;:.  2 
E  alley,  163 
hdiller,  99,  ;rz.  2 
bait,  7c  n. 
baize,  no 
Bakerloo,  61 
bald,  34 

bald-faced  stag,  34 
ball,  34 
ballad,  140 
ballet,  140 
balusters,  55 
ban,  66 
banal,  67 
bandy,  loi 
Banister,  166 
banister,  55 
banlieice^  67 
banjo,  137 
bannal,  67  ',1. 
B-irdell,  i_S9 
Barker,  165 
baron,  178 
barracking,  12 
bartisan,  13 
Barton,  160 
Bart's,  61 
basilisk,  34 
basnet,  145,  185 
bastinado,  23,  «.  I 
battant  neuf^  91 
batter,  142 
battledore,  122 
bay,  99,  no 
Bayard,  no 


Bayliss,  163 
bead, 68 
beadroll,  68 
beadsman,  68 
beant^  99,  n.  3 
beat  the  bush,  99 
Beaufoy,  158 
Beaulieu,  114 
beatipre^  1 18  n. 
beaver,  144 
bec-janne,  88 
bedlam,  56 
Beecham,  157 
beef-eater,  17S 
beejam,  88 
beg,  180 
begum,  146 
belcher,  78 
beldam,  78 
be  kite,  84 
belfry,  152 
Bell,  158 
Bella,  64 
belladonna,  78 
Bellows,  158 
Bendigo,  177 
benit^  41 
bergamot,  146 
bergeronnette,  30 
bergomask,  146 
Bert,  64 
bess,  38 
bet,  70  n. 

bete  a  bon  Dieu,  32 
Betts,  160 
betty,  38 
bever,  114 
beverage,  54 
bey,  146 
bezant,  45 
bible,  79 
bike,  61 
bilbo,  46 
billiments,  60 
Billingsgate,  44 
biliy-cock,  36 
binnacle,  S8 
Bishop,  163 
biz,  61 

black  art,  120 
blackguard,  77 
bland,  74 
Blood,  169 


INDEX 


193 


Blount,  i68 
bluff,  87  «. 
Blundell,  168 
blunderbuss,  117 
Blunt,  168 
Bob,  160 
bobby,  41 
bodice,  109 
Bodkin,  159 
boite^  Wj 
Boleyn,  161 
bombasine,  89 
bombast,  89 
bona-fide,  3 
bonfire,  140 
bonhomme,  74 
bonne  femrne^  74 
Bonner,  168 
bonus,  4 
boojum,  14 
book,  79 
Booker,  165 
boom,  15 
Boon,  158,  168 
boor,  77 

boot  and  saddle,  119 
bordereau^  85 
borel,  67 
boss,  18 
boulevard,  1 12 
boussole^  117 
boutique,  105 
bouvreuil,  30 
bovril,  14 
,  bowdlerise,  37 
bower,  149 
fioweiy,  149.  «.  I 
bowie,  36 
bowyer,  165 
boycott,  37 
Brabazon,  161 
brand  new,  99 
brandy,  63 
branks,  7 
brasse,  80 
brazil,  47 
breeches,  108 
breeks,  108 
Brett,  161 
Brewer,  170 
briar,  153 
bridal,  1 13 
Bridges,  161 


brig,  61 
brigantine,  61 
brisk,  58,  «,  2 
Bristow,  160 
Britton,  161  X. 
Brock,  168 
broderer,  165 
broker,  139 
bronze,  44 
brooch,  139,  1^8 
brose,  109 
brougham,  35 
Bruin,  32 
Brunei,  168 
buccaneer,  56  «. 
Buc/ise,  117 
Buchstabe,  79 
buck,  139 

Buckhurst  Holt,  125 
budget.  80 
bugle,  63 
Bull,  169 
Bullen,  161 
bulwark,  112    . 
buncombe,  44 
bungalow,  87  «. 
bunkum,  44 
burden,  146 
bureau,  67 
burgonet,  185 
Burg03me,  161 
burke,  37 
Burse  he,  87 
bus,  63 
bushes,  117 
butcher,  139 
buttery,  152 
bu:cora,  75 
Bythesea,  160 

Cab,  61 

cabal,  179 
cabbage,  142 
caboche,  142 
cad,  61 
caddie,  61 
cadge,  180 
Caesar,  163 
Caffyn,  169 
cage,  loi 
cahier,  155 
caitiff,  128 
cajole,  loi 


N 


194 


INDEX 


calculation,  80 
calendar,  148 
calender,  148 
Caliban,  1 24 
callant,  61 
caiumet,  22 
Calvert,  166 
cambric,  43 
Cambridge,  I  So 
camomile,  29 
canary,  47 
cancel,  2o 
cancer,  31 
canif,  50 
canker,  31 
cannibal,  124 
canter,  6r 
canvass,  66 
cape,  24 

Capel  Co-art,  141 
capestro^  61 
capot^  94 
captaia,  128 
captive,  128 
carat,  18 
Carev.',  114 
cargo,  131 
cark,  131 
carmine,  136 
carnell,  188 
carol,  140 
carousal,  153 
carouse,  153 
cartridge,  56 
case,  14& 
cashier,  16,  146 
cashmere,  43 
casket,  129 
■:a^3,  146 
cast,  146 
caste,  24 
catch,  131 
catchpole,  153 
cate,  57 
caterpillar,  29 
catkin,  30 
Catonet,  38 
Cater,  SS,  132 
cattle,  132 
caiicus,  12 
caudle,  7 
caulifio'ver,  1 42 
caulk,  186 


causeway,  115 
caveat,  4 
caves trolo^  6 1 
cavie,  loi 
celandine,  27 
cercueil^  129 
cerf-volant,  34 
cervelas,  125 
chabouk,  23 
chaise,  107,  n,  2 
Challen,  161 
Challis,  161 
Chaloner,  164 
chamberlain,  83 
ckambree^  86 
chameleon,  29 
Champain,  161 
Champneys,  161 
chancel,  80 
chancellor,  80 
chancery,  153 
Chaney,  162 
Chaniecler^  32 
chap,  61 
chapeau^  24 
chapel,  24,  141 
chaperon,  34 
chaplet,  24 
Chapman,  163 
chapman,  61 
chare,  2 
charge,  1 31 
charwoman,  2 
chase,  146 
Chater,  133 
chaion,  30 
chattel,  132 
Chaucer,  163 
chauvin^  12 
chaw  buck,  23 
Chawner,  164 
Chaworth,  161 
cheat,  78,  132  n. 
check,  80,  III 
cheer,  125 
chelidonium,  27 
chenapan^  50 
Chenevix,  16,  n,  2 
ckenille.,  30 
cheptd^liz 
cheque,  81 
chequer,  80 
cherry,  107 


INDEX 


195 


Chesney,  162 
chess,  III 
chesterfield,  36 
cheval-de-frise,  43,  ^.  I 
chevaUi,  35 
chevaucher^  60 
chewet,  34 
chieftain,  128 
chime,  8 
Chinee,  107 
Chippendale,  36 
chit,  88 
chore,  2 
chortle,  14 
chou,  142 
choucroute^  1 19 
chouse,  136 
chuet,  34 
chum,  87 
churl,  77 
cinch,  21 

cinematograph,  10 
cipher,  136 
cit,  61 
citizen,  113 
Clark,  134 
Claude^  41 
claymore,  122 
Cleaver,  165 
clerk,  134 
clothes-horse,  35 
clove,  83 
club,  71 
cobalt,  40 
Cobbett,  159 
cobra,  24 
cockney,  173 
cocoa-nut,  20 
coffer,  129 
Coffin,  169 
coffin,  129 
cognovit,  4 
colander,  142 
Colas,  91 
cole,  142 
Collet,  158 
colon,  6 
colonel,  53 
Coltman,  16$ 
colza,  142 
comadreja,  84 
comma,  6 
commere^  84 


companion,  86,  153 
compassion,  a 
complex,  4 
compound,  146 
comptroller,  81 
comrade,  86 
connect,  97 
constable,  82 
coniroU^  8 1 
controller,  81 
Conyers,  161 
coon,  59 
cooper,  74  n. 
coopering,  61 
cordonnier^  I18 
cordwainer,  1 18 
corney  108 
Corner,  164 
Cornwallis,  161 
corp,  108 
corsair,  20 

costermonger,  58,  n,  i 
counterpane,  126 
counterpoint,  126 
court-card,  119 
Coward,  168 
coward,  33 
cowslip,  27 
cozen,  102 
crack,  61 
cracovienne^  46 
crane,  34 
crane's  bill,  26 
cratch,  7 
cravat,  44 
crayfish,  115 
credence  table,  113  , 
crestfallen,  lOO 
cretin^  4 1 
crew,  59 
Cri,  61 
crimson,  136 
crinoline,  ,£27 
Crocker,  16$ 
Croker,  165 
crowfoot,  26 
Crowther,  164 
crozier,  152 
cubit,  80 
Cuddy,  33 
cuddy,  153 
cuirass,  150 
cuisse,  165 


196 


INDEX 


Cullen,  i6i 
cullis,  142 
culverin,  7,  34 
culvert,  190 
cummer,  84,  87 
cures  ^  149 
curmudgeon,  187 
currant,  45 
curry,  88 
curry  favour,  120 
curtal  axe,  116 
Curtis,  168 
cushion,  157  n, 
cuss,  61 
Custance,  159 
cusiodia^  95 
cutlass,  54,  116 
cutler,  1 16 
cutlet,  116 

Dada,  84 
dado,  131    ■ 
daffadowndilly,  107 
daffodil,  107 
Daft,  170 
Dago,  41 
dahlia,  28 
dainty,  128 
dairy,  153 
dais,  128 
daisy,  26 
Dalmain,  162 
dam.  III,  131 
damask,  43 
dame,  131 
dame-jea-rme^  40 
Dampier,  161 
damson,  45 
Dance,  169 
dandelion,  26 
dandy,  42 
Dangerfield,  163 
Danvers,  162 
dapper,  74 
dapple-gray,  167 
darbies,  37 
Darblay,  162 
Darbyshire,  134 
Daubeney,  162 
dauphin,  31 
Daus^  lOl 
davier^  38 
davit,  38 


Dawnay,  162 
Day,  153 
day-woman,  153 
<//,  56,  131 

dead  men's  fingers,  27 
Debbyhouse,  162,  n,  3 
debenture,  5 
decoy,  loi 
Dedman,  168 
dejeuner^  1 37 
delf,  44 
deliberate,  3 
delight,  112  w. 
demijohn,  40 
demure,  93 
denizen,  112 
Dennis,  158 
Denry,  64 
Depew,  8 
derive^  ^O 
derrick,  36 
derring-do,  13 

derringer,  35 

desk,  128 

deuce,  loi 

Deus,  175 

Devereux,  162 

Dexter,  164 

dexterity,  3 

di,Z 

diablotin,  159 

diam^  9 

diaper,  48 

Dick,  160 

dickens,  40 

die,  131 

Dietrich,  38 

Digg,  160 

digit,  80 

dimity,  138 

diTids,  48 

dindon,  48 

diner ^  1 37 

diocese,  138 

dirge,  4 

dirk,  17 

dirk,  38 

Dime,  75 

disaster,  98 

disc,  128 

dish,  128 

dishevelled,  125 

disk,  128 


INDEX 


197 


dismal,  8 

Disney,  162 

ditto,  141 

ditty,  141 

Dob,  160 

Dobbin,  84 

docket,  85 

dodo,  30 

dogma,  6 

doily,  36 

Dolman,  162 

doll,  39 

dollar,  45    . 

dominie,  5 

domino,  94 

Dompfaffe,  30 

donah,  131 

doninha^  84 

donkey  engine,  34 

donnola^  84 

do  re  me  fa  sol  la  si,  6 

domick,  43 

dotterel,  30 

dowlas,  44 

Drachen^  34 

dragon,  35 

Drakenberg,  27 

dram,  80 

drat,  60 

draught,  iir 

drawing-room,  60 

drill,  137 

drilling,  137 

Drink  water,  168 

dropsy,  56 

drub,  23,  ?r.  I 

Druce,  161 

drugget,  48 

ducat,  43 

duenna,  131 

duffel,  44 

Duke,  163 

dummer  Peter ^  41 

dunce,  41 

Dupuy,  7 

Durbeyfield,  162 

Durrant,  162 

Durward,  166 

duty,  10 

Duvemey,  162,  n.  i 

dyrk,  38 

Eager,  73 


earnest,  no 
eas^i,  i5,  35 
ec/^/ru^r,  90 
ic-TavilLTn,  39 
e'crov^  85,  w.  3 
erxrr!,  124 
ecuyfr^  1 24 

E;ser,Aut,  26 
eke,  105 
elco-,  So 
ell,  80 
Emmot,  33 
e::2barrzss,  98 

imruch^t,  35 
employ,  97 
ec-Eign,  118 
epitome,  6 
ecuerry,  124 
'Erb,  64 
ermine,  44 
errzni,  76 
escz-leau,  99 
escheat,  78 
esche-PT,  59 
esquire,  59,  124 
erch,  16,  123 
itirxelU,  54 
e-is-er,  io5  ' 
example,  59 
exche^-^jer^  80 
exdse,  123 
ezeat,4 
exit,  4 

expression,  97 
eyzs,  105 
eyre,  76 

Fain  I 3.  Koc^^  Zy 
Fa-irfax,  1 68 
^iry.  71.  84 
falconet,  34 
faldstool,  130 
face,  53 
farce,  £5 
Farr:ir,  163 
farrier,  82 
fanhfn^ale,  120 
Fat-a  Morgar^,  71 
Faulxner,  164 
fauUuil^  130 
Fa-util,  121,  179  n. 


198 


INDEX 


fay,  71 
feckless,  ii 
fed  up,  89 
fee,  132 
feeble,  53 
fellow-feeling,  2 
felon,  22 
fence,  59 
fender,  59 
ferret,  30,  138 
Ferriei,  163 
ferrule,  155 
ferule,  155 
fetish,^23 
fever-few,  27 
fiat,  4 
filbert,  32 
filibuster,  55 
nile,  75 
fire-new,  99 
firkin,  19  «. 
Fitch,  168 
fives,  9 
Sail,  53 
fiawn,  126  ?r. 
Fletcher,  164 
floret,  138 
florin,  45 
flounce,  55 
flour,  135 
flower,  135 
foil,  182 
foist,  99  n. 
folio,  5 
fond,  73 
foot,  79 
footpad,  154 
force-meat,  86 
foreign,  1 12 
forget-me-not,  29 
forlorn  hope,  16,  119 
Forster,  164 
Foster,  164 
M,  73 
fouet^  119 
Framnzimmer ^  87 
firagile,  128 
frail,  53,  128 
freebooter.  56 
fret,  122 
fretwork,  123 
frieze,  43 
fritter,  142 


Frobisher,  165 
froncle^  23 
frontispiece,  75,  n,  i 
frounce,  55 
fuchsia,  28 
fugleman,  53 
Fuller,  166 
funkdrjigelneii^  99 
furlong,  80 
furlough,  16 
fiironcie^  22 
fusee,  184 
fusil,  iSS 
fustian,  43,  89 
fustian-anapes,  4 1 
fusty,  99 

Galvanism,  36 
gambit,  147 
gamboge,  46 
game,  147 
gammon,  147 
gammy,  147 
gamut,  6 
gantlope,  120 
garage,  1 15 
garble,  19,  66 
garce,  TS 
garibaldi,  35 
garret,  96 
Garrett,  159 
gas,  14 

Gascoyne,  161 
Gaskin,  161 
gauge,  140 
Gaunt,  161 
gauntlet,  I20 
geezer,  11 
gffalle)',  ICO 
geindre,  174 
Gelbschnahel^  88 
Geld,  131 
generous,  3 
genius,  4 
gent,  61 
geranium,  27 
gerben,  88 
Gescke?ik,  84 
Geselle,  86 
Gevatter,  87 
Gevjekr,  59  71, 
Gibbon,  159 
Gift,  84 


INDEX 


199 


gift  horse,  90 
Gillott,  158 
gilly-flower,  115 
Gilpin,  160 
gimbals,  133 
gimmal,  133 
gin,  60,  62 
gindre^  174 
gingham,  48 
gist,  9 
glaij  121 
glaive,  121 
glamour,  11,  55,  134 
gleek,  95 
gloss,  144 
gloze,  144 
Godbehere,  158 
goffer,  72 
Gogs,  60 
gonfalon,  52 
Goodbeer,  158 
Goodenough,  158 
Goodeve,  159 
Goodlake.  159 
Goodrich,  159 
gorilla,  24 
goshawk,  142 
Gosling,  168 
Gosse,  167 
gossip,  87 
Gotobed,  158 
goupil,  32 
graft,  103 
grail,  II 
grain,  80 
gramarye,  134 
grampus,  29 
Grant,  16S 
Great  Onae,  92 
Grecian  steps,  104 
Greenfield,  162 
greengage,  29 
greenhorn,  88 
Greenhow,  125 
Grcenman,  169 
greyhound,  124 
grief,  113 
grimaldello,  38 
grimalkin,  39 
grirnoire^  134 
grize,  109 
grocer,  163 
grog,  62 


grogram,  5 1 
gross,  163 
grotesque,  130  n, 
gueritiy  96 
guinea,  47 
guinea-fowl,  47 
guinea-pig,  29,  47 
guillotine,  158 
guitar,  138 
guts-,  ^7 
guy,  41 

Habk\s  Corpus,  115 
hack,  61 
hackbut,  117 
Hackett,  159 
hag,  100 
haggard,  loo 
Hahnenfuss,  26 
Haig,  166  n. 
half  a  mo',  61 
halibut,  32 
Hammond,  159 
hand, 80 

hand  of  glory,  121 
hangar,  115 
Han  nay,  161 
Hannibal,  158 
Hansard,  162 
Hansom,  51  n. 
Hanway,  161 
harangue,  21,  50 
harbinger,  2,  83 
harbour,  2 
harry,  2 
Harvey,  159 
hatchell,  ii 
hatchment,  125 
hauberk,  i$2 
haut^^  121 
'haviour,  60 
hawse,  152  «. 
Hawtrey,  161 
Hay,  166  n. 
Hayward,  1 66 
hearse,  68 
heart's  ease,  27 
heckle,  11 
hempie,  61 
Herd,  166 
Hereford,  2 
hermitage,  50 
htrrisch^  85,  n,  2 


200 


INDEX 


Hewett,  159 
Hewlett,  159 
Hibbert,  159     • 
hic<:ough,  115 
Hick,  160 
Hig,  i5o 
hinterland,  12 
hippopotamus,  29 
Hitch,  160 
Hob,  160 
hobby,  84 
hobgoblin,  33 
Hobson's  choice;  179 
Hochzeit,  S8 
hock,  62 
Hogarth,  166 
Holland,  43 
hollyhock,  32 
homely,  74 
Homer,  163 
homme^  50 
Honeyball,  158 
honte^  50 
hooligan,  10 
Horner,  164 
host,  2,  147 
Howard,  166 
Howitt,  159 
Huggin,  159 
huguenot,  189 
humble  pie,  104 
hunks,  75 

hurly-burly,  64,  176 
hussar,  19 
hussy,  75 
Hutchin,  159 

IB,  64 

Ibbotson,  160 
ill-starred,  98 
imp,  103 
indenture,  82 
index,  4 
Indian  corn,  47 
Indian  ink,  47 
indigo,  46 
infantry,  69 
innuendo,  3 
inoculate,  105 
insult,  3 
interfere,  98 
inure,  148 
inveigle,  loi 


invoice,  109 
Irrgarten^  58 
isinglass,  127 
item,  4 

Jack,  38,  40 
jackanapes,  41 
jackass,  33 
jackdaw,  33 
jacket,  40 
Jan?,w^ay,  161 
jagueite,  34 
jarvey,  37 
jaunty,  117 
jean,  43 
jemmy,  38 
Jenner,  163 
jenneting,  112 
Jenny  wren,  33 
jeopardy,  100 
jesses,  III 
Jessop,  159 
jest,  68 
jiit,  42 
jingo,  II 
jockey,  41,  102 
Johannisapfel^  112 
jolis  fous^  119 
jonquil,  141 
joss,  24 

journeyman,  98,  153 
jovial,  98 
jug,  39 
Juggins,  40  n. 
Juliet,  42 
jumble,  113 
junket,  141 

Kafir,  23,  «.  2 
kail,  142 
Kanzel^  80 
Kemp,  166 
kennel,  147 
kerseymere,  43 
kestrel,  92 
kickshaws,  108 
Kiddier,  164 
kidnap,  loi 
kilderkin,  19 
kilt,  17 
kimmer,  87 
King,  163 
kittle,  138 


INDEX 


201 


Kisser,  165 
kit,  138  * 
kitcat,  3S 
kite,  34 
kittle,  54 
kjrrKm^  84 
Klaus,  3S 
kloof,  84 
knapsack,  16 
knave,  50 
Knfchl^  77 
knickerbockers,  40 
knight,  77 
Knoblauch^  84 
Kohl,  142 
kooi,  10 1 

Laagzr,  16 
label,  8S 
Labouchere,  165 
lace,  3  2 
lacrosse,  152 
lady-bird,  32 
lady's  bedstraw,  32 
lady's  garter,  32 
lady's  slipper,  32 
Lambert,  167 
Lamhrrtsnuss^  32 
lampoon,  S 
lance  gay,  23 
Lander,  166 
landUr^  1 06 
landscape,  16 
Langlois,  106 
larboard,  1 12 
larder,  153 
lariat,  22,  ic^ 
Larkin,  159 
larkspur,  26 
Ldrm^  106 
larrikin,  10,  177 
■  larum,  106 

lasso,  2  2 

lateen,  47 

Latimer,  165 

Launay,  162 

Launder,  166 

lar'andiire,  30 

lawn,  46 

lay-5gure,  16,  154 

leagner,  16 

leg,  91 

legend,  3 


Lcggatt,  159 
lemon,  149 
lemon  sole,  149 
level,  S3 
Icrur,  106 
Levick,  106 
livre,  108 
Lr.uissier,  83  «. 
libel,  38 
liocr,  79 
liehrzigtbi,  1 01 
li'rrt,  IC6 
Lil>-v,hite,  168 
limbeck,  58 
limbo,  5 
lime,  SI 
Limehouse,  44 
limner,  58 
Lirjivrurm,  92  «. 
lingo'.,  106 
liquorice,  127 
Hst,  8s 
Lister,  164 
little  Mary,  39 
livery,  70 
lobelia,  28 

locomotor  ataxy,  1 15 
lockram,  44 

Loftus,  158 

Lombard,  57 

lone,  S7 

'longing,  60 

loo,  63 

lords  and  ladies,  27 

Lorimer,  165 

Lonng,  161 

Loveday,  160 

Lovell,  159 

love  in  a  mist,  27 

Lowell,  159 

Lrnxmmaul,  26 

Lcrxenzahn,  26 

Lubbock,  161 

lucifer,  4 

Luck,  161 

I'MUS,  IT  I 

lugger,  94 

lugsail,  94 

lumber-room,  70 

luncheon,  II4 

lupus,  31 

Lush,  83  n. 

Lusher,  83  n. 


202 


INDEX 


macadamise,  37 

mackintosh,  35 

Macnab,  17  «. 

Macpberson,  17  «. 

Madeira,  47 

madge  owlet,  33 

madonna,  131 

magazine,  86 

magenta,  35  «. 

^^aggot,  54 

magnet,  44 

magnolia,  38 

magpie,  33 

Mahomet,  42 

mailed  fist,  145 

main  de  gloire^  12 1 

Main  waring,  157 

majolica,  44 

Malins,  l6i 

malkLn,  3S 

Mall.  154 
malmsey,  46 

Malthua,  158 

malvoisie,  46 
mammet,  39 

manar.t^  139 
mandarin,  34 
mandoline,  137 
mangle,  129 
mangonel,  129 

Mann,  161 
manner,  147 
man'Ueuvre,  1 48 
manor,  8 
ivlansel!,  161 
mans-,vorn,  13  «. 
manual,  3 
manure,  148 
marabout,  136 
maravedi,  136 
marble,  63 
Marchant,  134 
Marienkaftr^  32 
marionmtU^  39 
marmalade,  28 
Mamer,  164 
marquee,  107 
Marriot,  33 
marshal,  82 
Marshalsea,  82 
martello,  54 
martin,  33 


martinet,  179 
tnartin-pechruTy  33 
mascot,  II 
mask,  133 
tnasnadure^  139 
Massinger,  164 
masterpiece,  98 
match,  7 
mate,  86 
matelot,  86 
Ma-ud,  64 
maudlin,  56 
maul,  154 
Maulbeere^  53 
maul-stick,  154  ■ 
maxim,  35 
maximum,  4 
Mayhew,  159 
Mayne,  1 61 
mayor,  142 
maze,  58 
mazurka,  45 
mediastinus^  84 
Meerschiveinchen^  47 
megrims,  31 
meiny,  139 
melon,  28 
men-age,  139 
menagerie,  139 
mend,  57 
minilrier^  70 
menial,  139 
merchant,  62 
mercurial,  98 
merino,  142 
MerrvTveather,  16S 
mesmerism,  36 
mess,  86 
messmate,  86 
metal,  135 
7neticr^  148 
mettle,  98  «.,  13$ 
mews.  III 
miasma,  6 
Middlemass,  1 60 
milliner,  44 
miniature,  74 
minstrel,  70 
mint,  131 
minx,  75 
miscreant,  117 
miser,  4 
misnomer,  8 


INDEX 


203 


miss,  148  n. 
mistery,  148 
mizen,  8 
mob,  61 
Mohock,  II 
moidore,  131 
moifisau^  30 
money,  130 
monkey,  32 
monkey-wrench,  34 
monk's  hood,  26 
monnaie^  131 
Moon,  158 
Morel,  168 
morion,  185 
Morris,  162 
morris  dance,  45 

morris  pike,  45^ 

mosaic,  155 

mosquito,  35 

Mother  Carey's  chicken,  33 

moucheir^  9 1 

mcnistique^  54 

Moxon,  160 

muckinder,  91 

muguet^  137      . 

mulberry,  53 

mulligrubs,  31 

Mullins,  163 

mungo,  176 

Miinze^  131 

mure,  53 

mushroom,  5 1 

musk,  137 

musket,  35 

muslin,  43 

mustang,  21 

Musters,  163 

mutande,  91 

mystery,  148 

Ndgele,  84 
namby-pamby,  64 
Napier,  52,  169 
napkin,  52 
nappe ^  52 
Nash,  105 
naimt,  105 
nausea,  6 
nave,  141 
navvy,  63 
navy,  141 
nectar,  6 


nectarine,  6 
Ned,  105 
Neddy,  33 
jiegromanci^,  I20 
negus,  36 
Neil,  159 
Nelk,,  83 
Nell,  105 
news,  IC5 
nice,  78 
nickel,  40 
nickname,  105 
nickmn,  41 
nickumpoop,  41 
Nicod'cTne,  41 
nicotine,  36 
niddering,  13 
nincompoop,  41 
ninny,  41 
ninnyhammer,  4I 
niveau,  53 
noddy,  41 
noddypeak,  41 
Nokes,  105 
Noll,  105 
nonce,  105 

Norfolk  Howard,  1 67 
Norman,  172 
Norris,  162 
Norroy,  162 
nostrum,  4 
Now  ell,  160 
Nugent,  161 
nuncheon,  114 
nuncle,  105 
Nurse,  162 
nut,  175 
nutmeg,  137 
Nutter,  167 
mix,  175 

Object,  97 

obligation,  3 

obvious,  97 

odium,  4 

odsbodikins,  60 

ogle,  loi 

ogre,  190 

oignon,  88 

oiseau  de  Saint  Marti?iy  33 

Old  Nick,  40 

omelet,  126 

omen,  4 


204 


INDEX 


omnibus,  5 
onion,  84,  n.  i 
Onslow,  169 
orange,  28 
oreste^  122 
oriel,  53 
orlop,  16 
orrery,  36 
orteil^  122 
ortolan,  30 
oseille^  150, 
ostler,  50,  152 
ounce,  105 

Pad,  154 
padder,  154 
padding,  89 
Padgett,  160 
pady astro,  22 
paj,  61 
paladin,  12S 
Palatine,  128 
palaver,  24 
pallet,  145 
Palliser,  165   . 
Pall  Mall,  154 
palmer,  30 
Palsgrave,  128 
palsy,  $6 
pamphlet,  3S 
pandy,  5 
pantaloons,  40 
pantr}',  153 
Panzer^  1 45 
paper,  79 
parable,  24 
parbleu,  60 
parchment,  45,  79  n. 
parish,  56,  138 
Parker,  165 
Parkin,  159 
parley,  24 
parmaceti,  173 
parmesan,  173 
Parminter,  1 64 
Pamell,  160 
parole,  24 
parrot,  33 
parson,  1 33 
Partlet,  32 
partridge,  56 
Pascal,  160 
Pascoe,  160 


pasquinade,  37 
pastern,  69 
past  master,  98 
Patch,  168 
patch,  7 
pathos,  6 
patten,  108 
patter,  63 
paufm,  9 
pauper,  4 
Pav,  61 
pawn,  149 
pay,  149 
Paj-ne,  168 
paynim,  71 
pea,  107 
peach,  45,  57 
peajacket,  124 
peal,  57 
Pearce,  169 
pecuniUy  132 
pedigree,  71,  "S 
Peel,  160 
pelargonium,  27 
pelerin^  53 
Pelissiir^  1 64 
pen, 155 
pencil,  155 
Pennefather,  167 
Pentecost,  160 
penthouse,  115 
peon,  149 
perch,  80 
periwig,  58,  n.  2 
periwinkle,  II 8 
Perkin,  159 
Perrot,  33 
person,  133 
pert,  74 
peruse,  182 
pester,  69,  155 
Peter chen,  38 
petrel,  33 
petronel,  183 
Pettifer,  71 
Pettigrew,  71 
petty,  73 
pew,  7 

Phillimore,  163 
Philpot,  159 
Physick,  158 
pickaback,  65 
pick-axe,  Il6 


INDEX 


205 


Pickard,  151 
pie,  34 
piebald,  34 
pier  rot,  33 
pi,e:-iron,  34 
Pilcher,  164 
pilgrim,  53 
pinchbeck,  36 
Pinder,  164 
pine-apple,  28 
pion,  149 
pips,  94 
plain,  74 
plaudit,  5 
plover,  92 
pluck,  77 
pocket,  90  n. 
pocket-handkei chief,  91 
Pocock,  169 
Poidevin,  61 
pointe,  61 
poison,  84 
poke,  90 
polecat,  153 
polka,  45 
Pollock,  161 
Poll  parrot,  33 
polonaise^  46 
polony,  45 
pomander,  $2 
pomcitron,  29 
pomegranate,  29 
Pomeranze,  28 
Pomeroy,  162 
pomme  de pin^  28 
ponder,  i 
Pope  Joan,  119 
porcelain,  35 
porcupine,  29 
porpoise,  29 
porridge,  109 
port,  46 
portcullis,  142 
porter,  74 
Portugee,  107 
Poslett,  157 
Posnett,  157 
possum,  59 
posthumous,  116 
post-mortem,  3 
posy,  134 
potence,  36 
Pot%,  60 


pouce,  80 
Pmiille,  105 
poulterer,  58 
pounce,  100 
pouncet-box,  100 
pourboire,  84 
Power,  1 58 
power,  8 
pow-wow,  12 
Poyser,  164 
prayer,  68 
premises,  5 
premisses,  5 
premium,  4 
prentice,  58,  98 
prepense,  i 
preposterous,  119  ;/. 
press-gang,  120 
Prester  John,  85,  v.  2 
Priddle,  163,  n,  3 
priest,  85 
primrose,  115 
proctor,  56 
pub,  61 
pudding,  68 
puisne,  73 
pun, 61 
punch,  87  n. 
pundigrion,  61 
Punjaub,  87  n. 
puny,  73 
Purcell,  168 
purlieu,  114 
purley,  114 
pursy,  116 
purview,  4 
Puy  de  Dome,  7 
puzzle,  59 
python,  6 
pyx,  6,  117 

Quaint,  72 
quair,  134 
quarrel,  150 
quarry,  149 
quarto,  5 
quean,  75 
querry,  124 
query,  5 
quilt,  126 
quince,  no 
quintal,  19 
quire,  134 


O  2 


206 


INDEX 


quirry,  124 
quirt,  21 
quorum,  5 

Rack,  144 
radius,  4 
raiment,  56 
rampart,  112 
ramper,  1 12 
ranch,  21 
rappee,  8 
Read,  168 
Reader,  166 
reasty,  72 
reala^  21 
rebus,  4 
recreant,  117 
recruit,  59 
redstart,  loS 
Reed,  168 
Reeder,  166 
Rigenpfeife-r^  92 
Reginsckirm,  59  «. 
Reginald,  32 
rehearse,  97 
Reid,  168 
reine  Claude^  29 
relent,  3 
remainder,  8 
remnant,  8 
Renard,  32 
rendre,  113 
renegade,  1 17 
requiem,  4 
restive,  72 
revel,  130 
revelly,  9 
Reynold,  32 
Rich,  160 
Rick,  160 
Ritiersporn^  26 
rival,  3 
Rob,  160 
rob,  137 
robe,  137 
Robin,  84 
robin,  33 
Rocinante,  165 
romance,  67 
Ronald,  32 
rosemary,  115 
rossignoly  38 
roster,  16 


rouncy,  J 65 
Rouse,  160 
rouse,  108 
row,  108 

Rudge,  168    

rudimentary,  79 
rum,  62 
rummage,  70 
runagate,  117 
Runciman,  165 
Russell,  168 
rusty,  72 

Sabotage,  10 
Sachevereil,  169 
sack,  107  n. 
sake,  I 
saker,  34 
salade,  185 
salet,  185 
salary,  3 
salt-cellar,  125 
Salmon,  168 
salver,  113 
salvo,  113 
samite,  138 
samphire,  32 
sample,  58 
Samt,  138 
sandwich,  36 
Sandy,  64 

Sa7ikt  Peters  Vogel,  33 
Saragossa,  46 
sarcenet,  43 
sardine,  44 
Sargent,  137 
sash,  146 
sassafras,  27 
satire,  85 
saveloy,  125 
saxifrage,  27 
scabbard,  152 
scallion,  74 
scaramouch,  59  n. 
scavenger,  77 
schedule,  86 
scheitern,  90 
Sckemel,  99 
schirmen^  59  '^• 
school,  51,  150 
Schoniierlein,  84 
scintilla,  4 
scion,  103 


INDEX 


207 


scissors,  117 
score,  82 
screed,  85 
scrimer,  59  n. 
scrimmage,  59  n. 
Scriven,  165 
scroll,  85 
scruple,  80 
scullery,  39 
scullion,  39 
'sdeath,  60 
seal,  122 
sea-lioD,  29 
sear,  150 
search,  52 
secretary,  30 
sedan,  48 
seel,  122 
seesaw,  64 
sehr,  156 
seigneur^  85 
Sekt,  107  ?i. 
selig,  41 
sendal,  43 
seneschal,  85 
senior,  4 
senor^  85 
sentinel,  95 
sentry,  95 
sepoy,  135 
seraglio,  124 
serge,  25 
sergeant,  137 
serpent,  34 
servant,  137 
service-tree,  118 
Seward,  166 
sexton,  56 
Seymour,  157 
shalloon,  43 
shallop,  50 
shallot,  44 
shambles,  98 
shame-faced,  115 
shark,  30 
shawm,  22 
shay,  107 
Sheepshanks,  71 
sherbet,  135 
sherry,  46,  107 
shift,  91 

shilly-shally,  64 
shirk,  30 


shirt,  13S 

shon,  138 

shrapnel,  35 

shred,  85 

shrew,  31 

shrewd,  31 

shrive,  68 

shrub,  13$ 

sieur^  85 

iignor,  85 

silhouette,  36     , 

silk,  25 

siUy,  41 

siiiy  Jolmny,  41 

Sinclair,  157 

sinister,  3 

sir,  85 

sirloin,  178 

sire,  85,  131  n. 

sirup,  69,  135 

Sisson,  160 

sizar,  57 

size,  57 

sjambok,  23 

skate,  108 

skeeter,  59 

sketch,  1 5,  20 

skew,  58 

skinker,  114  w. 

skipper,  15 

skirmish,  56,  59  k.,  131 

skirt,  138 

slave,  20 

slim,  18 

slogan,  13 

slow- worm,  92 

slug,  87  n. 

slug-horn,  13 

sraock,  91 

smug,  74 

snap,  16 

snapdragon,  26 

snaphaunce,  185 

snapsack,  16 

snark,  14 

snickersnee,  64 

Snooks,  158 

soccer,  61 

solder,  143 

Soldner^  I43 

solemn,  129 

sorrel,  150 

sorrow,  155 


208 


INDEX 


sorry,  155 

ST.idard,  1 43 

scniillcrn^  39 

souse,  III 

sovereign,  112  «. 

spade,  71 

sfahi^  136 

span,  80 

spaniel,  45 

sparrow-grass,  1 15 

spatula,  71 

spec',  61 

spence,  153 

Spencer,  60,  153 

spencer,  36,  115 

spice,  59,  129 

Spicer,  163 

spick  and  span,  99 

spinuing-jenny.  38 

Spitalftelds,  59 

spite,  60 

Spittlegate,  59 

splay,  60 

sponge,  51 

Spoonerism,  5$ 

sport,  60 

sprightly,  II2  ;;. 

sprite,  $9 

Sprbssling^  1 03 

spruce,  44^ 

squarson,  61 

squire,  58 

stable,  51 

stage,  59 
staid,  94 

stain,  60 
stale,  94 
stance,  132 
staniel,  1S8 
stank,  24 
stanza,  132 
starboard,  112 
stationer,  58,  n.  I 
Steckenpferd^  89 
Stehibrech,  27 
steingall,  188 
sterling,  73 
stevedore,  70  n. 
steward,  83 
Stewart,  83 
stickler,  69 
still-room,  153 
stimulus,  4 


Stoddart,  166 
stomacher,  145 
stone,  80 
stonegall,  188 
Storchschnabel^  26 
storielli,  133 
stout,  74 
stranded,  90 
stun,  97 
sullen,  129 
Summerfield,  162 
Sumner,  163 
supercilious,  3 
surcease,  116 
surly,  85 
surplice,  164  «. 
surround,  151 
Surtees,  160 
swank,  1 90 
sward,  77 
sweet  William,  27 
sympathy,  2 
synopsis,  6 

Tabby,  43 
taffraii,  1 16 
taint,  59 
talisman,  19 
tallage,  124 
tally,  81 
talon,  8 
Tammany,  12 
tandem,  4 
tank,  24 
tankard,  54 
tansy,  27 
tantalise,  37 
iante^  64 
tarantella,  46 
tarantula,  46 
tartan,  17,  43 
tassel,  151 
'tater,  60 
tattoo,  16,  150 
tawdry,  60 
tease,  11 
teasel,  11 
'tec,  60 
teetotaller,  6 
teetotum,  5 
Telford,  170 
•tench,  60 
tender,  $9 


INDEX 


209 


tenet,  4 
tennis,  9 
tent,  151 
termagant,  42 
test,  98 
testy,  72 
tetchy,  151 
thimble,  56 
Thoroughgood,  158 
Tibbet,  159 
Tibert,  32 
tick,  61 
tidbit,  113 
•Tilda,  64 
Tillet,  159 
Tillotson,  160 
tilt,  100 

tinnunculu5y_^2      _  . 
tinsel,  54 
tire,  58 
tit,  113 
titbit,  113 
titmouse,  1 13 
tittle-tattle,  64 
'Tizer,  64 
"   tobacco,  i8r 
«        toby  jug,  40 
tocsin,  140 
Todhunter,  164 
toils,  99 

tolU  Bucken^  1 19 
tomtit,  33,  113 
Tono-Bungay,  14 
Toogood,  158 
Tooley  St.,  60 
touchy,  151 
tousle,  II 
Towser,  ii 
toy,  16 
Tozer,  II 
trace,  109 
tram,  178 
traveller's  joy,  27 
treacle,  69 
trellis,  137 
trepan,  loi 
tret,  113 
trews,  17,  109 
tribunal,  4 
tripod,  129 
tripos,  129 
trivet,  128 
trivial,  3 


trouble,  $4 
Troubleneld,  162 
trousers,  109 
trove,  S6,  94 
troy,  46 
truce,  no 
trump,  8 
Trumper,  164 
tuberose,  115 
Tucker,  166 
tubp,  136 
turban,  136 
turkey,  47 
Tumey,  159 
turnip,  8S 
tweeny,  8$ 
tweeters,  iii 
twill,_i37 

Umbhr,  140 
umbrella,  140 
umpire,  ICX4. 

tLDCOUth.  2 

Under  mil,  160 
undertaker,  58,  n,  i 
unkempt,  2 
imseal,  122 
upholder,  16$ 
upholsterer,  58 
usher,  83 
usquebaugh,  63 
utterance,  i$i 

Vagabond,  156 
vagrant,  156 
vambrace,  56 
vamoose,  9 
vamp,  56 
van,  56,  63 
vane,  53 
vanguard,  56 
Tarech,  ^O 
Varney,  162,  «,  i 
'varsity,  64 
varscn^^er.Tu^  46 
vaunt,  181 
vauntcouriex,  57 
Veck,  163 
vedette,  96 
vellum,  51 
veneer,  136 
venew,  114 
veney,  113 


210 


INDEX 


venom,  5 
venue,  114 
verdigris,  II9 
verheeren^  2 
Verney,  162,  «.  l 
verse,  132 
veriugadin^  127 
vet,  61 
veto,  4 
V'ck,  163 
%d Gloria,  35 
videlicet,  4 
vie,  60 
vigie,  9S 
vignette,  75 
viking,  156 
villa,  139 
villain,  139 
vinegar,  73 
'.nva-voce^  3 
viz.,  4 
voile  ^  108 
voltaisrn,  36 


•wag,  61 
Wait,  164 
waits,  70 
Walker,  166 
wallet,  54 
•walnut,  140 
Ward,  166 
•u-arison,  13 
Warner,  164 
Wat,  33 
•wattle,  54 
weed,  2 
week-end,  11 
Weenen,  28 
weir,  59  ». 
Wellington,  35 


wench,  75 
wergild,  131 
wheatear,  108 
wheedle,  102 
wheel,  175 
whisky,  58,  n.  2,  63 
white  feather,  100 
Whittaker,  162 
Whittier,  164 
wig,  63 
Wilmot,  159 
wipe,  61 
wire,  61 
wiseacre,  118 
wisteria,  28 
witch-elm,  118 
worsted,  44 

worthy,  74 

write,  79 
Wyatt,  159 

Xeres,  46 

Yacht,  16 
yard,  80 
yare,  88 
Ysopet,  38 

Zany,  41 
Zentner^  1 9 
zero,  136 
zest,  103 
ZcLtel^  86 
zigzag,  64 
zijde^  25 
ZinSy  123 
Zoo,  61 
zounds,  60 
Zwiebel,  88 
Zioilc/i,  137 


PJllNTFD  BY  OLIVKR  ANT)   EOYD,   KDINEURGH 


Introduction  to  Poetry 

Poetic  Expression,  Poetic  Truth,  the  Progress  of  Poetry.     By 
Laurie  Magnus,  M.A.     Second  Edition.     2s. 

This  book  is  intended  to  convey  the  elements  of  taste  and 
judgment  in  poetry  by  the  natural  or  direct  method  of  literature 
teaching.  In  other  words,  its  object  is  to  stimulate  a  reasonable 
pleasure  in  poetry. 

The  School  World,—''  This  volume  is  full  of  scholastic  detail,  and  yet 
devoid  of  pedantry  ;  it  is  a  little  masterpiece  of  fluency  and  literary  chamt. 
From  beginning  to  end  it  ir.  excellent,  and  the  delightful  style,  the  breadth 
and  incisiveness  of  view,  the  sidelights  which  it  opens  upon  life  and  thought, 
and  the  frequently  deep  philosophy  which  is  attractively  veiled  in  the 
author's  persuasive  rhetoric,  make  it  at  times  fascinating.  No  better  small 
book,  could  be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  kind  of  student  for  whom  it  was 
primarily  written  ;  and  it  is  to  be  unreservedly  commended." 

The  Daily  News. — "  The  book,  which  he  modestly  styles  Introduction 
to  Poetry,  is  at  once  clear,  critical,  and  comprehensive.  While  it  goes 
thoroughly  to  the  root  of  the  matter,  it  scrupulously  avoids  the  professional 
jargon  which  too  often  mars  the  object  of  such  books,  and  as  a  mentor  for 
the  youthful  student  of  literature  it  cannot  easily  b«  surpassed." 


WORKS  BY  HENRY  CECIL  WYLD 

Baines  Professor  of  English  Language  and  Philology  in  the 
University  of  Liverpool 

The  Historical  Study  of  the 
Mother  Tongue 

An  Introduction  to  Philological  Method.     7s.  6d. 

The  object  of  this  book  is  to  give,  not  a  history  of  our  language, 
but  some  indications  of  the  point  of  view  from  which  the  history  of 
a  language  should  be  studied,  and  of  the  principal  points  of  method 
in  such  a  study,  and  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  beginner  to  the 
study  of  at  least  some  of  the  great  writers. 

Bookman. — "We  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  Professor  Wyld's 
book  marks  an  epoch  in  the  study  of  English  in  this  country." 

The  Growth  of  EngHsh 

An  Elementary  Account  of  the  Present  Form  of  our 
Language  and  its  Development.     3s.  6d. 


LONDON  :   JOHN  MURRAY,  ALBEMARLE   STREET,  W. 


Shakspere  and  His  Predecessors  in  the 
English  Drama 

By  F.  S.  Boas,  M.A.,  sometime  Professor  of  English  Literature, 
Queen's  College,  Belfast.  6s. ;  Library  Edition,  o^i 
larger  paper,   7s.  6d. 

Morning  Post. — "  It  is  impossible  to  part  with  this  work  without  a  word 
of  cordial  congratulation  to  the  author  on  the  vigour  of  his  style,  the 
originality  of  some  of  his  views  and  theories,  and  the  painstaking  apprecia- 
tion he  has  broi^ght  to  bear  on  his  subject," 

The  English  Novel  from  its  Origin  to 
Sir  Walter  Scott 

By  Walter  Raleigh,  Professor  of  English  Literature  in 
Glasgow  University.     2s. 

Synopsis  of  Conte?its. 

The  Romance  and  thk  Novel— The  Elizabethan  Age  :  Euphues  : 
Sydney  and  Nash — The  Romances  of  the  17TH  Century-— 
The  Beginnings  of  the  Modern  Novel — Richardson  and 
Fielding— The  Novels  of  the  i8th  Century— The  Revival 
■  OF  Romance— The  Novel  of  Domestic  Satire  :  Miss  Burney  ; 
Miss  Austen  ;  Miss  Edgeworth — Sir  W-\lter  Scott. 

Journal  of  Education. — "An  admirable  handbook — clear,  concise,  definite, 
and  yet  not  dry,  .  .  ,  The  hook  is  full  of  good  things,  and  as  readable  as 
any  novel." 

The   Jacobean    Poets 

By  Edmund  Gosse.     33.  6d. 

Synopsis  of  Contents. 

Preface;  The  Last  Elizabeth .\ns  ;  Ben  Jonson— Chapman ;  John 
Donne;  Beaumont  and  Fletcher;  Campion— Drayton— Sir 
John  BeaUxMOnt  ;  Heywood—Middleton— Rowley  ;  Giles  and 
Pkineas    Fletcher— Browne  ;    Tourneur— Webster— Day— 
Daborne;    Wither— Quarles— Lord    Brooke;    Philip   Mas- 
sin'ger;  Index. 
Daily  Telegraph, — "  None  can  read  this  brief  but  comprehensive  treatise 
on  a  brilliant  episode  in  English  letters  without  increasing  their_  own  know- 
ledge of  the  period  and  their  appreciation  of  its  exponent's  critical  acumen 
and  research," 

LONDON  :   JOHN  MURRAY,  ALBEMARLE  STREET,  W. 


University  of 
Connecticut 

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